Defying The Heavens
by Breaker12
Summary: AU. All legends and hero have a beginning. Some start as nobles or commoners. Issei, however, started in the worst way possible – as a slave. However, he will reach a level that no one else has ever reached. He will reach the very peak of martial arts, and become the most powerful being in existence. This is his story, and how he rose to prominence. IsseiXHarem! Xianxia-setting!
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

 **So, this is my third story! This story is completely different from my two previous ones that focused on comedy. This one will focus more on developing the plot with adventure, action and romance.**

 **Some warnings: This will be AU. Really AU. The universe this story takes place in will be completely different from cannon. The story's start will also be set on another time-line.**

* * *

 **Year - U** **nknown**

It was a dark night. In the slave-trader city of Nelfalhem, a young boy walked around carrying a tray full of food. He was currently heading towards the hotel where his masters resided. As he walked, his dark, heavy shackles made it difficult for him to move forward.

"Just a little more," he muttered to himself, trying his best to continue. Even though he knew that this was hard on his body, if he didn't bring the food on time, it would be even harder. He would receive punishment.

Cold sweat ran down his face as he walked; some of it sprinkled onto the food, much to his dismay. He looked down at the food worriedly. There were droplets of sweat on them. He then held back a curse as he walked.

"Let's hope that they don't notice..." he said as he finally reached the door of the hotel. He then carefully placed the tray on the ground as if it was made of glass. After making sure that it was balanced on the ground, he opened the large doors using all the strength his small body could muster. After opening the door, he was about to pick his tray once again when he noticed a shard of wood on the floor. Knowing that somehow his master would blame it on him somehow if someone got injured by it, he placed it on his pocket, carefully got the tray from the ground and resumed his travel.

After a couple of hard-sweated minutes, he finally reached the room of his masters. Balancing the tray in one arm, he used the other one to knock on the door, quickly retreating his arm back to the tray afterwards.

"Come in."

He then carefully opened the door with his back. After opening, he walked inside and walked towards the dining table. Making sure to keep his head down, he placed the food on the table and went to the corner of the room. Soon after, both of his masters came in from the bedroom door.

"Finally!" The master, a middle-aged well-dressed obese man exclaimed as he quickly hurried to the table, his fat belly swaying with every moment. The young boy was careful to keep his eyes out of it.

Following the large man was a boy, around 15 years old. He was just as well-dressed as the other one, but unlike the larger one, he walked calmly to the table, without hurry. Once he was sited, he looked towards the other one that was wolfing down his food like a starving animal.

"Father, there is no need to hurry," he said politely as he picked up some steak from the tray, placing it on his plate.

"I am hungry," the fat man said between bites as he reaped pieces of the steak with his bare teeth. The young man could only sigh at the sight. Deciding to ignore his savage of a father, he grabbed his silver-ware and started eating like he should – like a rich aristocrat.

Carefully slicing through the meat with his knife, he picked the slice with his fork and brought it to his mouth. Just as he was about to open his mouth, he noticed something. There was some sort of glistening fluid on it. He then brought it close to his eyes to analyse it. The young boy's eyes widened as he realized that his young master was about to find out about the sweat.

"No, no, no..." he muttered with fear as he watched his young master analyse his sweat. He was already shivering, his eyes full of fear.

The young man, on the other hand, calmly evaluated the fluid on the chunk of meat. After looking at it closely, his eyes widened as he realized what it was. He immediately looked back at the young boy in rage, his eyes narrowing. The young boy could only tremble under his young master's ruthless gaze.

"Slave," he said to the boy calmly, although his eyes expressed extreme fury. His father had stopped eating and started directing his attention to the conversation. "What is this on my food?" He asked, his eyes narrowing even further.

"I-I-I don-don't kn-know," he stuttered. He knew he was bad at lying, and under the ruthless gaze of the young man, he couldn't even speak straight.

"Oh?" The young man said, with mocked surprise. "You don't?"

The young boy shook his head from side to side fiercely, while sweating from all over his body.

"I see..." The young man started. "Maybe this..." He said as he lifted up his fork. "Will refresh your memory," He finished as he skilfully threw his fork at the slave's hand, impaling it to the wall behind him.

"Argh!" The young boy cried in pain as he kneeled down, his impaled hand staying up.

"Now, is your memory better?" The young man said as he got out of his chair and advanced towards the young boy with a knife in his hands.

"I-I swear, I-I don-don't k-know!" He tried to prove his false innocence, but the young master new better. He was already sure that it was the young boy's sweat. The young boy, on the other hand, tried to conceal the truth as good as he could. If his other master – the young master's father – found out that there was sweat on the food he had just wolfed down, he was as good as dead.

"Hmm..." The young man said as he knelled down in front of the young boy. "Maybe I should try refreshing your memory once more," he said as he got his knife and pierced the boy's shoulder.

"Argh!" He screamed in pain once more as the pain travelled trough his nervous system; his eyes widened as the pain started increased more and more. Tears started flooding out of his eyes as blood flowed down his head and shoulders like a little red fountain.

"Are you sure you don't know?" The young man said as he slowly pulled out the knife from the shoulder and the fork from the hand. The young boy screamed in pain.

"What's happening, son?" The fat man finally said, not understanding what they were talking about.

"It's nothing, father," he said politely with a smile as he quickly looked back at his father before looking a the young boy once again. Scowling, he said, "Little piece of shit." He kicked the young boy in the abdomen, throwing him up in the air because of his light weight. Blood came gushing out of the young boy's mouth as he was lifted up in the air.

"This is useless..." The young man muttered as he looked at the young lying in a fetal position, holding his bloodied hand. "Disappear from my sight!" He demanded as he walked back to the table.

"Y-Yes," the boy muttered as he dragged his body along the floor leaving behind a trail of blood and tears like a trail of oozy slime from a slug.

Eventually, he reached his room, located outside of his master's room, near all of the other slaves rooms. It was situated exactly in middle of the hotel with twenty slave rooms to the left and twenty to the right. Since it was a slave-trader city, most of the civilians that slept in the hotels had slave themselves, so naturally the hotel had separate room for slaves so they don't mix with the masters.

"Almost there," the young boy muttered to himself as he brought his body up, dragging it up the wall near to the door using it as support. After he was completely up, he shakily brought his uninjured hand to the door handle and opened it. After the door was opened, he used his last ounce of strength to push his body in, falling down on the cold hay that was on the floor with the door closing behind him.

All the slave rooms were extremely small. While the masters' living quarters were about two-hundred square meters, with two separate bedrooms, a dining room and a living room, the slaves' rooms however were two square meters with some sparse hay here and there. It also had no illumination, casting the slaves into a complete abyss of darkness.

Curling up into a ball, tears cascaded down his beaten and bruised body. The pain was unbearable. It soared through his body, seeped into him and slung him into an unendurable and cynical cycle of pain – pain that burned. Pain that scorched his very existence so much that he couldn't take it anymore.

As he cried his heart out, a cold wind passed by, causing him shiver. He had nothing to cover himself with, so he had no choice but to endure the cold. His tears fell down on the ground, making small dripping noises. Each of his tears carried his pain and agony.

"What...," he muttered weakly, "Did I do to deserve this?" He couldn't ask God, since he had long ago deemed him dead. If there was truly a God, why did he have to suffer so much? The only answer that he could think of was that he was either dead or never existed in the first place.

"Why?" He asked one last time before passing out, the pain driving him unconscious. As he slept, his small, scarred body trembled from the cold. There were scars all over his tiny body, a result from his life of slavery. Ever since he could remember, he had been a slave. Apparently, his parents had left him by the door of his current master house-hold when he was still a new-born, and he had been a slave since then. For all the six years of his life.

Even though he was feeling cold and in pain, a small smile made its way through to his small face. He dreamed about escaping his life, releasing himself from being a slave, being free for once in his life. He dreamed of a life without his masters, a life where he could be alone.

As he dreamed, a rat sneaked in through the door, because of the stench the young boy gave off. It scurried to his hands, since the smell seemed to be coming from it, and bit down on it.

"Argh!" The young boy screamed as he was suddenly woken up from his dreams. He looked down to see a grey rodent biting down on his injured hand. His eyes widened as he moved his hand fiercely, throwing the rat at the door. Once it fell to the ground, the rat quickly exited the room, knowing that it would be troublesome to stay there any longer.

His face contorted into one of extreme pain as he looked at his twice-injured hand. He knew that if not treated it could get infected, but he had no way to treat the wound.

The same pain that had put him to sleep before now prevented him from doing so. He cursed as he realized that he would have to spend his night awake, cold, starving and in pain. He couldn't bare it anymore. Life was just too cruel. He did nothing to deserve this. He thought about grabbing the piece of wood in his pocket and killing himself, but soon decided not to. If the religious studies his young master took were right, he would be going to a place way worse than this tortuous place for suicide. He could only cry in silence.

As his tears travelled down his faces, like water coming from a spring, he realized something. It was October 7th, his birthday. His mouth formed into an ironic smile.

"Happy birthday," he muttered to himself in irony. His current birthday was just like his previous ones. On his birthdays, and also on every day of his short, miserable life, he would spend his nights shivering and bleeding.

He at least wished that he would spend at least one of his birthdays in his life without being hurt. He didn't need gifts, he didn't need a cake, he didn't need a party and nor the presence of anyone. All he wanted was to spend it without being roughed up or bleeding.

As he started imagining his perfect birthday, the pain slowly faded away. His mind was completely focused on his thoughts, the thoughts of a utopian dream and ignored the immense pain and burden on his body. That was one of the only things he liked about his life. Every time he was in pain, if he started thinking about something happy, there was a chance the pain would fade away. Even though the chance was small, there was still a chance.

In his perfect birthday, there wouldn't be a lot of things. His masters certainly wouldn't be there nor his parents. They could burn in hell for all he cared. Also, the suffering he'd had to endure would be gone, replaced with happiness, joy and freedom. They abandoned him to those bastards he called master, so he had no affection whatsoever for his parents. In fact, he loathed them. Who leaves their new born child in the house of slave-traders? Only sick bastards would do that, henceforth he had come to hate his parents.

As he continued thinking about his perfect birthday, he failed to noticed a scream coming from the outside. Soon after, more screams followed. The third one was so high pitched that he heard it, snapping him out of his thoughts, bringing the pain back.

"Oh no," he muttered as he felt the pain coming back. It came back in full-force, making his body convulse, leaving him splattered on the ground. As he lied down on the ground with his limbs twitching, the screams kept getting closer and louder. Amidst all the pain, cold, hunger, another emotion surfaced – fear.

"What's happening?" He muttered to himself as the screams only kept getting louder, meaning that they were also getting closer. His heart raced, filling his body with fear. At last, one last ear-splitting scream filled the air. Suddenly, he heard footsteps near his door. He immediately held his breath, trying not to make any sound. The footsteps stopped in front of his door for a while before proceeding to enter the other doors, bringing forth even more screams.

Later, the screams softened until it was almost faint. He sighed in relief as he realized that he had managed to safe himself. He could not help but wonder just what the hell was happening.

The screams stopped. This either meant that the person had already killed everyone in the hotel with the exception of him or that he was really far away. Either way, that meant that he was safe for the time being.

He then rested in a comfortable position, since that was the only thing that he could at the moment. Opening the door was out of question, since that was basically asking to die. He also couldn't stand up, since he had no strength left in his body, so his only option was to just lie on the ground.

As he shimmied and wriggled around, he noticed how calm he was in this situation. Even though there was a serial killer on the hotel killing everyone, here he was, trying to get comfortable. He simply shrugged it off.

Once he was finally comfortable, he closed his eyes. The pain was still there, but after awhile he grew used to it. He then tried to sleep. Just as he was about to sleep, he heard the footsteps from before advancing towards his door.

His eyes widened as he held his breath and hoped that the person hadn't decided to make sure that there was no body on his room. As he held his breath, the fear came back as he heard the steps nearing his room. The steps then stopped in front of his door once more.

'Please, no...' The small boy thought. He hoped with all his soul that the person would ignore his room. As he trembled in fear, he heard a slight creaking sound, meaning that the door was opening. He closed his eyes in fear. He knew that he couldn't do anything against the person, so the only thing he could do was to hope that his death was as quick and painless as possible. With his nerves steeled, he waited for his death, but it never came.

"Huh?" The boy muttered as he slowly opened his eyes, only to see a tall shadow looking down on him. The being was completely covered in darkness. All that could be seen was the glowing light of it's blood-red eyes.

"Who are you?" A voice came from the shadow. The voice was neither kind nor cruel. It was monotone and neutral. It showed no emotions whatsoever.

The boy knew that it would be best for him to truthfully answer the shadow. The last thing he wanted was to anger that being.

"My name is Issei, sir."

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 **So, this is it for the chapter. It's kinda small, but I promise that the next ones are going to be much bigger, around 5000-7000 words. Either way, until the next chapter. Probably 4 days from now.**

 **Oh yeah, the title of this story is also going to be the name of one of it's arcs, but it's going to take some time for this story to reach that arc.**

 **Remember to review! It's important for me to see reviews, because it makes me want to write more.**


	2. Stranger Clad In Darkness

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

 **So, this is the second chapter! Thanks for all of those who reviewed! I don't have much to say, just one thing. There are a lot of stories were the main character already starts strong, or there is a huge time-skip and he gets back much stronger. In this story, I will cover how Issei got stronger.**

* * *

 **Outskirts of Nelfalhem**

A tall man looked down from a hill, eying the city in front of him carefully. He then looked back at his map to make sure that he was in the right place. After confirming, he placed his map back on his pocket and laid down on the ground.

"If I knew how far this was..." The man muttered to himself. "I would have left coming here for tomorrow". He then sighed as he slowly lifted his body from the ground and recalled his mission.

 _You are to infiltrate into the slave-trader city of Nelfalhem and kill all slave-traders and slaves. Leave no one alive._

He sighed as he directed his attention to the city. There were still lights on, so he would wait until everyone had gone to sleep. It wold be easier to kill them that way.

"Kill everyone, huh?" The man mused. He had no problems in killing slave-traders, but slaves? That troubled him, even if only a little. "Oh well, I took this quest knowing this. Too late now to back down"

He then got out a dagger from one of his many pockets. After twirling it around his fingers for some minutes, the man got bored. He had literally nothing to do.

"You know what?" The man said to no one in particular. "Let's just kill them and get this over with" At that moment, the man disappeared from sight, leaving no prof that he was ever there.

* * *

 **Entrance of the slave-trader hotel**

Near the entrance of the slave-trader hotel of Nelfalhem, one of the shadows, cast by the glowing torches, started to change it's shape. Soon, the shadow started growing out of the ground, forming a black mass with glowing blood-red eyes.

The black mass walked over to the entrance. "No need to kill the town people. All I need is right here," It said before it slowly opened the door, carefully in order to not make any noise, and walked inside.

"Hmm..." The shadow muttered to itself. "Where should I start?" It said as he looked left and right. To it's left was what appeared to be a slave's room and to his right a master's living quarter.

"Let's go random," He said as he placed his hands on his pocket and grabbed a gold coin. In one of it's side was a crown and on the other one, the number _15_. "If it falls on number, I start with the slaves. If it falls on crown, I start with masters." He said before he threw the coin up in the air. It soared trough the air before it landed down on his hand.

"Crown, huh?" He said as the coin fell on his hand. He quickly placed it on his pocket and directed his attention to the master's living quarter. "Sorry, blame it on the coin," He said before he kicked open the door and walked inside the living quarter.

Upon walking in, the first thing he saw was an empty dining room. He then walked to his right, and opened the door. As he peered inside the room, he saw a skinny man sleeping. He calmly walked over to the bed. Once he was a few inches from the sleeping man, he raised his dagger and brought it down on his neck, killing him instantly.

"One down, a lot to got" He said before he walked out of the room and then out of the living quarters.

He then entered the slave room and did the same thing. After killing the slave, he looked back at the huge corridor.

"This is gonna take a while..." He said with a sigh. He really felt like going home and having a good sleep, but it would tarnish his reputation to stop a quest mid-way.

"Should I use that?" The man pondered. "Yeah, that would make things faster" He decided before he placed his dagger back in his pocket. He then lifted up his right hand.

" _Come forth,"_ He said. At that moment, a black ball of energy formed in his hands. The ball then split itself shape, becoming several smaller balls. The balls then hovered on the air, as if awaiting a command.

"Kill everyone," He said two simple, but deadly words. The balls immediately transformed into animals; some becoming bats, some transforming into rats. The now transformed balls then started going into the rooms, killing it's inhabitants, causing various screams.

The man, on the other hand, calmly walked trough the corridor, seemingly oblivious to the pained screams. As he walked, the animals entered and exited rooms non-stop, all covered in blood. The man grimaced at the sight.

"This is making me hungry..." He muttered as he continued his walk. After walking for several seconds, the man stopped.

"Damn, this shit is huge" He muttered as he stared further into the corridor. Just as he was about to continue walking, he saw a rat walking down the corridor, a trail of blood behind him. The rat wasn't one of his creatures, since it was a real living being. He watched as the rat approached him with wobbly legs.

"Hmm... I wonder where this trails leads to..." He said as he ignored the injured red and started following the trail of blood. After some minutes, he was in front of a slave's door. His creations were also approaching this area.

He was about to open the room door, but stopped when he heard the person's breathing. From what he could tell, the person was a young boy, 6 years old at most and seemed to be heavily injured. It also seemed to be crying.

'I can handle killing adult slaves, but child? No way,' The man thought. As the man was thinking, one of his creatures, a dark rat, approached the room, intending to kill it's inhabitant. However, before the rat could fulfill his mission, he was stopped by the foot of his creator. The rat looked up at his creator, sending him a questioning look.

'Ignore this room,' He told the rat mentally. The rat than nodded and continued his killing-spree, making more screams. The man then decided that he would come back to his room after he had finished with the rest of the hotel.

* * *

 **10 minutes later**

The man sighed as he once more stood in front of the room. He had already dispersed his creatures, so the only beings alive on the hotel were him and the slave inside the room. It also happened that he was the only kid in the entire hotel.

'Hmm... how should I do this?' the man thought as he mused over what his course of action would be. After some seconds, he decided that he would just go with the flow.

With the dark mass still covering his body, leaving only his blood-red eyes, the man walked inside the room. Inside the room, a brown-haired child, not older than 6, was trembling with his eyes closed. The first thing that the man noticed were the bloodstain on his shoulder and hands.

He continued analyzing the child. He could see various scars running through his body. He scowled at that, although his facial expression didn't appear trough the black mass.

"Huh?" The child said as it slowly opened it's brown eyes. The man immediately noticed how those eyes contained immense pain. There were also dried tears near its eyes. The child seemed utterly scared.

"Who are you?" The man asked, wanting to know the name of the child.

"Issei, sir," The child, now known as Issei, answered back in scared tone. The man noticed that he must seem intimidating, covered in darkness and all, so he took off the dark aura that was covering him, revealing his real appearance.

Issei' eyes widened as the darkness that was covering the man dispersed. Even though it was dark, he could tell that the man had long gray hair. The man was also wearing some leather clothes with a long coat that reached its feet.

"Better?" Asked the man, motioning to his appearance. Issei nodded slowly, now less frightened. Although he was less frightened, he was still wary of the man. As far as he could tell, the man had killed everyone on the hotel.

"So, child, let me tell you something," The man started as he knelled down in front of Issei, making him jump back, his back hitting the wall. "You are free now," The man continue with a smile.

Issei eyes widened. Did the man just say that he was free? Issei couldn't believe him. The man, noticing Issei' surprise, chuckled.

"Your masters are dead. That means that you aren't a slave anymore," The man exclaimed, making Issei widen his eyes even further. He was so scared of dying that he hadn't even noticed that. His masters were dead. He was free. Tears started coming out of his eyes.

"Thank you," The boy muttered as he tried to stop the endless flow of tears from pouring out of his eyes. He had never been happier his entire life. All of the pain, the torture, it was all over. He looked up at the ceiling.

"Maybe you really exist..." He muttered to the ceiling. The man had heard what the boy said, but decided to ignore it. He had to get things done fast if he wanted to get home early.

"So, listen," The man said, making the boy look back at him. "You have two option right now. You could either stay here or you could come with me. I am going to head back home now, and wouldn't mind dropping you at an orphanage in the way."

Issei mused over the two options. This was a slave-trader city. As soon as other people figured out that everyone on the hotel was dead, with the exception of him, it would mean trouble for him. He was also injured. So, staying here was a no-no. That only left going with the mysterious man.

"I would like to come with you," Issei said with determination, making the man smile. The child seemed like he would be able to survive in this world if it had this determination, after all.

"Perfect," The man said as he turned around, still in the kneeling position. "Hop on."

Issei looked at the man in confusion. Why would the man show him his back and tell him to hop on? No one had ever done that to him before, so he was at loss as to what he should do.

"Hmm..." The child said, unsure of what to do. "Hop on?"

The man nodded. "Yes, just climb on my back. You are injured, aren't you? Let me carry you."

The boy's eyes widened as he understood what he was supposed to do. The man was actually helping him! The boy then shyly walked over to the man's back and placed his arms on his shoulders.

The man then turned his head to look back at the child. "Hold on tight," He said before he suddenly got up and started walking out of the hotel. Issei tried his best to hold onto the man. With one of his hands injured, it was proving to be a difficult task.

"Bear with it for a little more," The man said as he noticed Issei' pained face. "We are almost reaching it."

Issei nodded, still trying his best to maintain his grip on the man. After some minutes, they were standing on top of a hill. In it, there was a pitch-black horse. The man then placed Issei on top of the horse and went to pat it's head.

"How are you?" The man said kindly as he looked at his faithful horse. "We are going to have an extra passenger today, so try to your best," He whispered into the horse's ear before climbing on top of it, with Issei laying down in front of him, already sleeping.

"Seems like the effort was too great..." The man muttered as he placed Issei close to him, in order to not let the boy fall down. After he was done placing the boy in a good position, he motioned for his horse to go.

The horse instantly started running, passing trough the woods at impressive speeds that no horse should be able to achieve. The man turned his attention to the injured boy near him.

"His wounds... if not treated, he will lose his hand..." The man said slowly as he carefully analyzed the injury on the boy's hand. He had no need to pay attention to the horse, since it could ride itself without any problems.

"Hmm... do I have any healing magic?" The man wondered out loud. After thinking for some time, he reached the conclusion that he had nothing that could heal in his huge arsenal of magic. All of them were offensive magic. The man was extremely powerful, but only in terms of offensive powers.

"Oh well, although this won't cure as fast as magic, it will work," He said before he extended his left arm to his side. Suddenly, a crack in space appeared near to the man's arm. He instantly placed his arm in the crack and pulled out a some medicines and bandages. The crack quickly disappeared afterward.

The man then placed the medicines in his laps along with the bandages. He then grabbed the boy's hand and also placed it on his lap. He then got the medicine, opened the lid, and poured some of its content on the boys hand, making him wince slightly.

Ignoring the sleeping boy discomfort, he lifted up the now disinfected hand and wrapped it around on bandages. He then did the exact same thing with the shoulder.

"Okay, his wounds are treated..." The man muttered as he looked around the boy's body, trying to find any more wounds. Finding none, he placed the boy back on his previous position.

The man then looked at his horse. "Hey, how much longer until we reach Marisli?"

"About 2 hours," The horse answered back in a manly and gruff voice. If Issei had been awake, he probably would have jumped off the horse in surprise. Never, in all of his life, he would have expected to see a talking horse. The man, on the other hand, was already used to it.

"I see..." The man muttered. "Still a long way to go, huh?"

"Yeah, long..." The horse muttered as he turned left in a crossroad. "Oh yeah, didn't your quest explicitly say to leave no survivors?" The horse asked the man.

The man scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Yeah, about that..." He stared saying. "I just couldn't bring myself to kill the little fella."

"Okay, that makes sense, he _is_ a child, after all," The horse said. "But, I don't understand why you are helping him."

The man then put on a faked hurt look on his face. "What? Do you think I am the type of person that would ignore a hurt child?"

The horse nodded. "Yeah, that's pretty much you."

The man sighed. He couldn't say that the horse was wrong. He had already killed thousands, including children. He had quite a reputation to himself. But, those were the old days. The man wasn't as cruel as before.

"Yeah, I know. It's just that I felt like helping him. He reminded me of how I was before," The man explained with a far-away look, as if remembering the old days. He wasn't lying. The boy truly reminded him of how he was before the " _incident_ ". A scared, hurt and empty boy.

"How you were before, huh?" The horse said with a thoughtful look. "If you say so..."

* * *

 **2 hours later – Entrance of Marisli.**

"Finally!" The man exclaimed with a tired face as he jumped off the horse. He was getting tired of sitting for too long. He then started stretching his legs to make the blood flow.

"Oh, shut up," The talking horse said in annoyance. "I was the one who did all the work, you lazy bastard."

Ignoring the horse's insult, the man got the kid off the horse and carried him in his arms. He then looked back at the horse.

"I will call you later. Rest for now," He said before he placed one of his hands on the horse's body, making it disappear. After taking care of his horse, he walked to the closest hotel in the town. He already knew that it had no orphanages, so he would have to spend the night here with the child before going to Zerut, a town close to his home that had an orphanage.

After searching for some minutes, he finally found a good hotel. He then walked inside, the boy still in his arms, and went to the counter. In it was a sleeping lady. He chuckled as he watched her sleep. It was dawn, so he wasn't surprised that she was sleeping. Sadly, he needed a room, so he would have to interrupt her sleep.

"I want a single room," He told the lady in charge of the counter, waking her up. She looked around in disorientation before noticing the man in front of her and understanding what was happening. The lady looked the man up and down and then the kid in his arms before blushing. The man was incredibly handsome, with sharp and manly features. He also exquisite red eyes that gave him a mysterious aura.

"That will be 5 gold coins. Housing for horses will cost an extra gold coin," She said in a business-like tone, trying to suppress her blush while completely ignoring the fact that she was sleeping in work just a while ago.

The man nodded as he placed his left hand in his pocket, equilibrating Issei on his right arm. Although it seemed that he was searching his pockets for coins, in reality, he had just opened a crack in space and was getting some of the gold coins from his fortune.

Getting 10 gold out of his pocket (read: crack in space), the man placed them in the counter. "I will only like one room. No horse housing necessary. Also bring breakfast."

The lady nodded slowly as she grabbed the coins and placed them in a drawer. She then picked up a key and handed it to the man.

"Room 03," She said. "Third room down the hall."

The man nodded. "Thanks," He said before he walked to the room. Upon arriving on a door with _03_ written on it, he once more equillibrated Issei on his right arm as he unlocked the door with his left. After it was unlocked, he walked inside, not caring to lock the door.

The room was pretty simple. A large bed, a sofa, a drawer and a table. It also had a bathroom. The man looked around the room before placing the boy on the sofa and going to rest on the bed. Both the sofa and bed were equally as comfortable, so it didn't really matter where each one of them stayed.

The man then looked at the boy sleeping soundly on the sofa on last time before going to sleep. Even though he wasn't tired in reality, he still liked to sleep.

* * *

 **5 Hours Later**

The door to the room the man and Issei were in opened slightly, a person clad in dark robes walking in. He looked around the room before setting his eyes on the sleeping man. He then walked slowly to the man's bed, careful to not wake the man and the boy up. The person then placed his hand on his pocket, trying to grab something, but the thing slipped from his fingers, falling down on the ground, making a small noise.

Instantly, Issei's eyes fluttered open. He looked around, still drowsy, before noticing the person near to the bed his savior was sleeping in with a dagger on the ground. The boys eyes widened as he jumped up and placed himself between the man who saved him and the person clad in black.

The man in black robes looked at the kid in surprise. "Boy, get out of the way. I only want the man dead. I have no reason to kill you," The man said in a pissed-off tone as he tried to get the boy out of his way. Issei, instead, kept still with his arms up.

"No," Was the short answer Issei gave to assassin. The assassin was pissed off even more.

"Come on, boy. That man is dangerous," The assassin tried to convince Issei that the man was bad, but failed.

Issei simply shook his head. "He saved me. That's enough to earn my trust. I won't let you kill him," The boy said with strong determination that a boy his age shouldn't have.

The man who seemed to be sleeping widened his eyes. In reality, he had been awake ever since the assassin walked in the room. He was planning on dealing with the assassin the moment he was about to kill him, but the boy completely changed the situation. He hadn't expected that the boy would try to protect him, even more with such strong determination.

A smirk appeared in the man's lips. 'This boy... he seems interesting. It would be a waste to place him on an orphanage. Perhaps I should take him with me?' The man mused over what he should do in his mind.

"So be it, boy," The assassin said before he grabbed the dagger from the ground and went to attack the boy that was in his way. Just as he was about to reach the boy, he stopped. He looked around in confusion. He noticed that he couldn't move.

"So foolish..." The man said as he got up from his bed, surprising the boy and the assassin. The assassin glowered at the man.

"So you were awake?" He asked in an enraged tone, still trying to move. Issei, on the other hand, had no idea of what was happening.

"Of course I was awake, you naive little assassin," The man said as he walked past Issei and stood in front of the assassin. "Now, you must be wondering why you can't move, right?"

The assassin gritted his teeth as he nodded slowly, enraged. He had no idea why he couldn't move. It was as if he was frozen in time.

"Let me tell you a piece of advice," The man said as he lifted his right hand up, a crack appearing in space. He then placed his hand inside the crack and took out a dagger. "Before you try to assassinate someone, you should research the person abilities," The man said before he slashed at the frozen assassin, tearing off the hood, revealing it's face. It was a handsome man, not older than thirty, who had a scar down his right eye. He had blonde hair and equally colored eyes.

"So, might telling me why you tried to kill me, Mr. Blondie?" The man said, giving the assassin a nickname based on his characteristics.

Issei could only look in amazement at the events that unfolded in front of him. The man who saved him had just frozen the assassin and pulled a dagger out of thin air. He was completely amazed.

"You don't remember me?!" Mr. Blondie cried in rage. "You ruined my life!"

The man just sighed as he shook his head. "Believe me, I have ruined a lot of lives already. Could you be more specific?" He asked as he played around with his dagger.

"You destroyed my business two years ago, you bastard!" Mr. Blondie screamed. "I have spent this past two years searching for you, so I could get my revenge!"

The man, on the other hand, seemed to be in deep thought. "Two years...business..." he muttered before his eyes widened. "Oh, you are the one with the female-slave trader business!" he exclaimed in realization.

Mr. Blondie scowled. "Yes, and you fucking ruined it. My life was great, capturing girls and selling them to rich men, but you just had to ruin it, didn't you, you bastard!" He screamed in rage.

The man simply shook his head. "Of course I had to ruin it," He said in a playful tone before he stopped playing around with his dagger. "Who on earth capture young girls and sells them as sex-slaves?" he said on low and deaadly tone. Killing intent filled the room.

Mr. Blondie shivered as the temperature in the room dropped considerably. The look in the man's eyes was murderous. He was beginning to regret his decision.

"At that time, I couldn't find you, so I decided to let you go," The man started. "But, now, I have the perfect opportunity to get rid of one more scum on earth," He said before he raised his dagger and slashed at the man's throat, making blood gush out of it, killing him instantly.

Issei looked at the scene in disgust. Not at the blood, but at the dead blonde haired assassin. That bastard truly deserved to die. He didn't know what "sex" was, but if the person was a slave-trader, he was already considered scum by Issei.

The man than looked back at Issei and sent him a sad smile. "Sorry about all that," He said in an apologetic tone. "I wasn't expecting to be attacked so soon."

Issei simply shook his head. "I don't mind," He said before he directed his attention to the dead corpse "What are we gonna do about him?" He said as he pointed at him.

The man simply shrugged his shoulders before placing his hand on the corpse. At that moment, the corpse was covered in darkness before disappearing out of sight. Issei's eyes widened in surprise. The blood stains also disappeared. When Issei looked at the blood stains, he remembered about his own injuries. Looking back at his hand and shoulder in surprise, his eyes widened as he noticed the bandage.

"Was it you?" Issei said as he pointed at the bandages while looking back at the man.

"Yeah, it isn't much, but..."

Issei simply shook his head, his eyes filled with gratefulness. "Thank you."

The man simply scratched the back of his head. "No problem, kid." He said before he looked at the door. "Let's get going? I am sure you don't feel like eating anymore."

Issei nodded. Even though he wasn't bothered by the blood to a great extent, it still bothered him nonetheless, and he didn't feel like eating after witnessing a person dying.

The man then opened the door and led Issei out of the hotel. Five minutes later, they were already on the road, riding the horse.

As they passed trough the forest, the man looked back at Issei. "Kid, I have a proposal to make. How about instead of going to the orphanage, I adopt you? I have got plenty of space back at home, anyway."

Issei's eyes widened at the proposal. Not even a second later, he already had an answer. He completely trusted the man. "I would like to go with you," Issei said with determination. The man smiled as he looked back at his horse.

"Change of plans, Felli. We are going to the castle," The man exclaimed.

Issei eyes widened. Did he just say castle? Even more, the strange things he did earlier... what the hell was that? Issei was full of questions, so he decided to go with one that could possibly answer all of his questions.

"Mister, just who are you?" Issei asked.

The man looked back at Issei with a wide smile, showing his large canines. "I am Shinso. A vampire"

* * *

 **Hope you guys liked it! Remember to review and expect another chapter soon!**


	3. A New World, Magic And A Stone

**Disclaimer: I own NOTHING.**

 **So, this is the third chapter of DTH and also the longest one that I have ever written.**

 ** _A/N:_** _Either way, because of all of the Chinese stories that I read, my initial idea for this fanfiction was totally and completely changed. They inspired me greatly, and in my opinion, this new version is much more pleasing and interesting._

 _Well, before you start reading the chapter, there are some things that I should say (Or write) first. Firstly, this chapter will be relatively boring. The reason is because there won't be much action on it because most of it is dedicated to explaining the new world that Issei is in. Because of my poor experience in writing, I couldn't make it super interesting, but I tried my best to make it not tedious._

 _Thirdly, I ask that you read the entire chapter and please, give it a chance. If you ever feel like dropping this story in the middle of the chapter (Which is highly probable, given what I did to the story), I ask that you jump to the author notes on the end of the chapter and only after reading them would you decided whether to drop the story or to continue it._

 _Well, that's all I have to say. On to the chapter!_

* * *

 _ **Chapter 3 - A New World, Magic And A Stone**_

* * *

Issei looked at the man in front of him puzzled. _"Vampire?"_ he thought. Issei had never heard of that term before. His brows creased. "This doesn't explain anything at all," he murmured to himself.

"Hmm...Shinso-san?" Issei asked, fidgeting in his seat.

"What?" Shinso turned his head to back to look at him. "Anything you want to ask?"

"Hmm...," Issei began, avoiding Shinso's gaze. "What's a vampire?"

Shinso's eyes widened slightly. All of a sudden, he remembered whom he was talking to. "It seems that some explaining is in order," Shinso thought to himself whilst sighing.

"Well... a vampire is...," he begun, his eyes locked onto Issei, who had an expectant look plastered all over his face. "A vampire is a species, like humans...," he continued, still unsure of how to explain. "And they have special powers," Shinso concluded. He doubted that he would be able to come up with an explanation worse than that, but it'd have to do for the time being. In his opinion, vampires were a complex race. It would take a long time to explain it clearly.

Issei nodded slowly, absorbing the sparse information inside his brain. He then looked over to Shinso. "You're not human?" he asked, trying to make sure that he heard what Shinso had said correctly.

"No."

"And you have special powers?" Issei asked.

"Yes."

The information that Shinso had given him couldn't be considered as enlightening. The only thing he found out was that the man wasn't human, but he had already expected that. "What are your special powers?" Issei finally asked after much thought.

A smile appeared on Shinso's face. That question he could answer easily. However, just as he's about to open his mouth, he stopped, and a strange expression took over his face. His mouth opened and closed a few times, but no words came out. Shinso's brows furrowed. After a long time, he sighed and said, "We have… many powers. Actually, in the place where I come from, everyone can have powers… but vampires have it easier… or something."

"Many… powers?" Issei tilted his head to the side, staring at Shinso blankly. "Any examples?"

"Well…," Shinso adopted a thoughtful expression. "If you're asking for my personal powers, then I can name a few," he said after much thought. "For example, I can fly."

"Really?!" Issei's eyes widened in shock, only to be replaced by enthusiasm. "Awesome!" Like many kids, flying through the sky was one of the things he desired to do the most. "Can I become a vampire too?" he earnestly asked.

Shinso started. He pondered over it before responding, "There's a way."

Issei's eyes widened as his down-cast look disappeared as soon as it came. "So it's possible?" he inquired, trying to make sure he had heard it correctly.

Shinso nodded, happy that the kid was smiling again. "Yes, it's indeed possible," he confirmed, causing Issei's smile to widen even further. "But only if you work hard. In order to become a vampire, your body must be strong," he quickly added.

Issei quickly nodded repeatedly. "I promise I will work hard!" He raised his fist up into the air, acting just like any other kid his age. Shinso chuckled at Issei's reaction. The boy was beginning to grow on him.

"Good," Shinso praised, seeing the look of determination in the kid's eyes. "Maybe he could really become a vampire," he mused in his mind. He quickly shook his head. It would be a long time before that moment comes. He looked back at the road in order to pretend to check how much time left until he reached his castle. As he looked, he narrowed his eyes before looking back at the kid.

"Issei," he said. "Try to get some sleep. It will take some time for us to reach the castle, a few hours at least."

As if Shinso's words had reminded him of a human's basic necessity, Issei yawned and nodded. He had barely slept and he was tired. Taking Shinso up on his offer, he laid his body down on the large horse, letting his consciousness wander into the realm of dreams.

Shinso chuckled at the speed the kid had fallen asleep. "He must have been really tired," Shinso murmured to himself. After some thought, he used his arms to lift Issei up and laid him down in front of him, in a place where he could keep him from falling down.

"Good kid," he muttered slowly, a hint of a smile on his face. Taking his attention off Issei, he glanced at his horse and sighed. "You can stop now," Shinso said quietly.

Surprisingly, the horse nodded its head and stopped in place. Shinso jumped off the horse and looked back at his old friend. "Keep him safe."

Shinso looked at the woods. "I know you guys are there!"

The moment he said those words, some rattling sounds came from the woods in front of them. All of a sudden, people started to appear, walking out from bushes, or even jumping down from trees. There were at least twenty of them, all of them clad in shining silver armor. Shinso stared at them up and down, his gaze strange. "Looks expensive," he concluded in his mind.

"So, twice in the same day, huh?" he said in irony. "Seriously, today definitely isn't my best day," he said before he looked at what seemed to be the leader of the group. Although all of them were wearing silver armor, this person, in particular, was clad in black. Because of that, he assumed him to be the leader.

"So… judging from your differently-styled armor, you should be the leader." Shinso glanced at a warrior that wore black armor. "Mind telling me what you're doing here?" he casually asked. "Don't tell me that I have gotten myself new stalkers."

Instead of answering Shinso, the man clad in black took off his helmet, revealing a handsome and heroic face. "When did you discover us?" he asked in a deep baritone voice.

Shinso sighed and shook his head. "That's not how it works. You answer my question first."

"I see...," the black-armored man trailed off, slowly assuming what could be considered as a battle-stance. The other warriors did the same. "We were ordered to kill you," he finally answered.

Shinso raised his left eyebrow. "Ordered?" he repeated in a surprised tone. "By whom?"

The man snarled. "You know who," he spat.

Shinso merely sighed. "For the second time today, I don't. It's not like I keep track of the people I mess with. If I did, I'm afraid there wouldn't be enough paper in the world to make that damn list."

The man in dark armor huffed in annoyance. "Lincus. He ordered me."

Shinso adopted a surprised look at the mention of that name. He was well aware of who the person was but didn't remember angering such person. "Lincus? I don't remember doing anything to that fellow."

The dark knight stared back at Shinso with disdain. "He didn't tell us the reason. All we know is that we're sent to kill you, and we'll do just that," he said darkly. Suddenly, his feet struck against the ground and he dashed forward, like a fierce beast. His sword lunged at Shinso, cutting a deep gash in his stomach. Shinso took a few steps back, coughing up some blood.

Shinso spat even more blood smearing the ground in red. His face was overshadowed by his long, gray hair. "You got me...," he began, his countenance twisted in a painful expression. All of a sudden, he grinned. Throwing his head back, he laughed loudly, as if he had just heard the funniest joke in existence. "Just kidding."

The twenty or so warriors could only stare in shock as the large wound on Shinso's stomach closed up at speed visible to the naked eye. Within seconds, it was completely healed. If it wasn't for the tear in his clothes, they wouldn't have thought that Shinso had been wounded in the first place.

Shinso stared at the man sharply, a smart and shrewd smirk on his face. "Tough luck," he said. "You just chose the wrong job."

Shinso slowly lifted up his hand and grabbed at thin air. Everyone's eyes widened as huge sword materialized on his hands – a greatsword. The sword was so large and wide that it rivaled the size of the great vampire. The leader of the group took a step back.

"How can this be?!" he cried out in fear.

"He didn't tell us about-"

Before the man could continue, his body was split in half by Shinso, causing blood to fly in all directions.

"Oops," Shinso said as he looked down on the bisected man before looking over to the dead man's group. "So, who's next?" he asked as a maniacal smirk took over his face. Everyone's eyes widened in a mix of fear, shock, and disbelief. As if they had reached a silent agreement, everyone suddenly turned around and began to run away. At that moment, the image of a blood-thirsty demon overlapped with that of Shinso's, scaring them silly.

After making sure that everyone was far away, Shinso sighed as he smeared the blood on his sword onto the floor. With a flick of his fingers, the greatsword disappeared into thin air. Shinso shook his head to the sides exasperatedly. He was getting too old for this kind of stuff. Fighting weaklings all the time was boring and, dare he say, incredibly tedious. Sadly, when one reaches the level of power that Shinso had, one would consider all the inhabitants of the realm he was currently in as weaklings.

Shinso slowly walked back to the horse, flashing a look of disgust at the bisected man. Surprisingly, Shinso wasn't exactly fond of killing. What he did before was just an act to make everyone go away. It wasn't that he felt bad about killing, but he didn't like it either. In short, he was somewhat neutral about it. If he had to, he would kill, but if there was no need, he wouldn't. To him, it was a waste of time to mingle with humans of this realm.

"So, still going to the castle?" the horse asked, seeing as Shinso was once more on top of him. Shinso nodded as he got Issei in a position that he wouldn't fall off easily.

"Yes," he said, making the horse continue running. As they ran, the landscape passed as a blur to Shinso. He could only wonder at how his life would change now that he would have a little boy living with him.

A smirk appeared on Shinso's face. "Well, this could be fun." He extended his left hand and concentrated a little. Power then started flowing out of his body and extended outwards.

Shortly after, a pitch-black fissure in space appeared a few meters in front of his horse. The horse didn't stop as it continued running and entered the fissure as if it was already a normal occurrence for him.

After passing through the fissure, Shinso smiled as he looked at the massive doors in front of him. It had directly sent them to the entrance of his residence in the Middle Realm.

"Finally!" Shinso said as he casually got off the horse, cradled the sleeping Issei in his arms and walked to the massive doors, his horse already disappearing.

Upon reaching the doors, he knocked on it with his left hand, while managing Issei with his right. Soon enough the doors opened, revealing a beautiful woman wearing a maid outfit. She had long, black hair, crimson-colored eyes, and a slender, yet voluptuous body.

She immediately bowed as she noticed who the person in front of her was.

"Shinso-sama."

All of a sudden, Shinso's ironic and playful attitude turned into one of nobility. A gentle smile appeared on his face as he looked at the maid. "It's nice to see you, Sayla," he greeted her.

The maid, Sayla, used that opportunity to lift her head. "How was the ques-" Sayla stopped mid-way, noticing the boy in Shinso's arms. "Who's he, master?" she asked as she motioned her head to Issei.

"Oh, this is Issei," Shinso said as he looked down at the brown haired boy. "Your Young Master I guess," he smiled, momentarily revealing traces of his playful expression.

Sayla's eyes widened in shock. "Young Master?" she repeated, astonished. She had no idea what she had expected from the quest that Shinso went on, but she definitely didn't expect to gain a Young Master of sorts.

"Yes, he's your Young Master," Shinso said as he walked in. Inside, there was a huge salon with two parallel and spiral staircases. Noticing the absence of the other maids and butlers, he looked back at Sayla. "Take him to one of the unused rooms. Preferably one close to mine. Tell me when he wakes up," he said as he handed the boy over to his maid.

"Of course, Shinso-sama," she said as she caught the young boy and placed him on her arms. She knew that all would be explained later, so she didn't question her master anymore. Just as she was about to walk away, Shinso called out to her, "I will be in my study. Don't forget to call me the moment he wakes."

"Yes, Shinso-sama," Sayla bowed once more. After that, she turned around and continued her trip to the future room of her Young Master. Upon nearing the large staircase, she began climbing it, making sure to hold tightly to the young boy in her arms. After reaching the end of the staircase, she turned left and walked to the direction of one of the various unused rooms. She entered the room carefully so as to not wake Issei up.

"So, what now?" she asked herself as she placed the sleeping boy on top of the bed. She wondered if she should just cover him with the covers as he was or if she should change his clothes first. Opting to change his clothes first, she walked over to the closet, hoping that there would be some clothes for a being of his small size.

Upon opening it, she sighed as she saw that there were none. "Of course there aren't, stupid," she scolded herself. "There hasn't been a child in this house before."

She looked over to the boy sleeping soundly on top of the bed. She could not help but find his peaceful, sleeping face cute. However, she quickly returned to her problem. "There aren't any kid's clothes in the castle…" she murmured to herself.

Suddenly, her eyes widened as she remembered some unused clothes that Shinso had. An idea formed in her mind, which included said clothes. She quickly exited the room, only to come back with the upper part of a gray-colored robe.

Placing the shirt next to the boy, she saw that it would cover his entire body. She smiled at her shrewdness. Just as she was about to undress the boy and dress him in the new clothes she had arranged, she suddenly stopped, taking notice of how dirty he was. It was as if he had never taken a bath in his whole life, which probably wasn't too far from the truth.

Taking it upon herself to clean him, she picked up the naked boy and brought him to the bathroom that was located in his room's bathroom. She then let him rest on the floor as she quickly filled up the large bathtub with lukewarm water. After it was full, she picked up the boy and placed him on it. The instant she did that, the water darkened, because of the dirt covering the boy's body. She scowled at the sight; she truly disliked dirty things.

As she watched the dirt disappear from the boy's body, she searched around the bathroom for something that her master had introduced to her recently, some tens of years ago in fact. It was called soap. She fell in love at first sight with it. Being a clean freak, she couldn't hope for anything better than soap. Finding the miraculous item, she began to spread it on the boy's body very lightly, as to not wake him up. Thankfully, he was under Shinso's sleeping spell, so he wouldn't wake up anyways.

As his body became cleaner, a horrified expression appeared on her face. Because of the dirt, she hadn't noticed it before, but now it was clear. The boy's body was completely covered in scars. Scars from whips, daggers, knives.

"How could someone do this?" she murmured in anger as she took notice of the huge number of scars on the boy's body. That made her wonder even more where her master had gotten him. Was he a past slave or something? That would make sense, given her master's mission, but she couldn't be sure. Deciding to just focus on the situation at hand, she finished cleaning his body and dressed him in the large, unused shirt.

After she was done, she placed the boy back in the bed and walked around to leave the room. Just as she was about to leave, she remembered her master's words.

 _Don't forget to call me the moment he wakes up._

How would she know the moment the boy wakes up? The only way would be to keep a constant watch on him. Not wanting to let down her master, Sayla sat down on a chair, patiently waiting for her Young Master to wake up.

* * *

Brown eyes fluttered open as Issei woke up. Just upon exiting his deep slumber, he looked around the room he was in, curiosity all over his face, taking in all of its furniture – The large, King-sized bed he was sleeping in, a sofa on the right corner of the room, a beautiful painting of a dragon in the wall opposite to his bed, and, finally, a chair near his bed, with a woman sleeping on it.

When Issei saw the beautiful woman in maid outfit resting on the chair, his first instinct was to go over to her and investigate but dispelled this thought quickly. He had learned to be wary of strangers at an early age, and he wasn't about to be careless. So, Issei first quickly looked at his environment once more, in order to localize the door, in case the woman was dangerous. After finding it on the same wall the bed was touching, but a little farther to the right side, Issei carefully got out of the bed, in order to not make any noise.

As he got out, he finally noticed his change in attire. Looking at the large shirt that reached his shins, Issei stopped his movements for a while to enjoy the feeling of softness it possessed. Never before in his miserable life had he worn such good clothes.

After a minute or so of enjoying the pure softness of the material, Issei continued his trip to the door, treading carefully, doing his utmost to not make any noise. Much to his dismay, just as he was nearing the door, he heard a noise coming from the direction of the young woman.

Fright all over his face, Issei slowly turned his head around, only to see the young woman waking up. The woman first looked at the bed, and upon noticing that it was empty, her head immediately searched around the room for Issei.

"Ah!" She exclaimed with a delighted yet surprised tone as she quickly got off the bed and walked towards Issei. "You woke up!"

Issei, taken off-guard by her sudden movements, hurriedly took a step back, crashing into the wall behind him, faintly bruising the back of his head.

"Ouch..." Issei muttered as he rubbed the back of his head, but never taking his attention off the woman, knowing that she could mean potential danger. The woman, on the other hand, gave off a faint laugh at the frightened boy. She couldn't help but find it funny how he had injured himself. But, soon enough, her duty as a maid prevailed as she quickened her pace and arrived in front of the boy, kneeling in front of him in order to face him face to face.

"Are you alright, young master?" She asked as she eyed the boy's head. Issei, didn't answer as he looked around the room once more, and seeing that he was cornered, he gave in. He decided to not run and instead determine whether the young woman was a threat or not.

"I am..." He muttered softly before remembering the way she had addressed him. Blinking his eyes in confusion, he stared at the young woman's eyes. "Young master?" He asked as he tilted his head to the side slightly.

The woman chuckled at the child's antics. She had to admit that he was a rather cute child. She then nodded to his previous question, "Yes, Young Master. You're my Young Master now."

Issei slowly let his guard down, but not completely. He looked at her with a puzzled expression. "Why?" Was his simple, one-word question.

"Why what?" The maid asked, also confused.

Issei sighed internally, "Why am I your Young Master?" He elaborated his previous question, seeing that she hadn't understood him previously.

"Ah..." The maid muttered before smiling lightly. "Well, I don't really know the details. All I know is that Shinso said that you're now my Young Master," She explained truthfully. To say the truth, she was also curious as to what had happened and wanted to get some insight from the boy, but upon seeing that he was just as oblivious as her to the situation at hand, she crushed that thought.

"Shinso?" Issei asked, his eyes brightening up instantly as he heard the name of his savior. He immediately asked the maid in front of him in hurry, "Where is he?"

The maid, noticing Issei's one hundred and eighty degrees' personality change, chuckled a little before getting up from her kneeling position and looked and the little boy. "Follow me, Issei-sama," She said as started walking to the door.

Issei quickly nodded and followed her out of the room. As soon as they got out of the room, Issei couldn't help but take a step back in surprise because in front of him was the most luxurious interior he had ever seen. Even though his late master's house was quite lavish, it paled in comparison to Shinso's castle. Walls made of the whitest of jades with gold statues and paintings all around the walls, floor, and ceiling.

The massive size of the area also took away Issei's breath. It was huge. Incredibly huge. Just from looking up, he could see that the ceiling was at least ten meters away from the ground. Also, he seemed to be on the third floor. He quickly approached the edge of the passageway that was blocked by a golden fence and peered down, only to see the first floor way below him. All in all, the castle was sumptuous to an impossible extent.

The maid simply looked at the awestruck Issei with a smile on her face. It was obvious that he was taken aback by the huge size of the place, which was already expected. Even she had taken a long time to get used to it.

After watching Issei for a while, she remembered Shinso's order to bring Issei to her as soon as he wakes up, so she quickly went to Issei's side.

"Issei-sama, Shinso-sama's waiting for us. You'll have time to look around the castle later on," She said as she looked at the cute, six-years-old boy.

Issei, still awestruck, only managed to give a slow nod. Seeing Issei's response, the maid motioned for him to follow her, to which Issei happy obliged. After walking for a couple of more minutes, they found themselves in front of two huge doors situated on the second floor.

"Here we are," She said as she shot Issei a small smile before she knocked on the door. Soon enough, a deep voice came from within. "Come on in."

She then nodded, opened the door and motioned for Issei to enter. After he entered, she followed after him, closing the door. She then stood by Issei's side as she looked respectfully at Shinso, who was on the other side of the room, sitting on a large chair with a book in his lap.

Upon seeing Shinso, a dazzling smile took over Issei's face. He was, at the moment, the only person Issei actually knew in the entire world, since the other two had been killed off. Shinso also smiled after seeing Issei, although his smile wasn't as wide as his.

"Issei, have you slept well?" Shinso asked in a kind tone. It was also obvious that his personality underwent a huge transformation. When they were traveling back to the castle, Shinso exuded a mysterious and dark aura, but right now his aura was kind and noble. The difference was obvious.

Upon noticing the change in Shinso, Issei looked puzzled for a moment before ignoring it. He then shook his head, "Yep."

"That's good..." Shinso said as he looked at the little boy. He then directed his attention towards Sayla. "Sayla, can you please call everyone else here?" He asked kindly.

Sayla nodded, "Yes, Shinso-sama," And then bowed politely before exiting the room, leaving Issei and Shinso alone. After seeing that he was finally alone with Shinso, Issei decided to start asking questions.

"Shinso," Issei said as he approached Shinso, who remained sited on the chair.

"What, Issei?"

"Where are we?" Was the simple question Issei asked. In reality, he had many others, but decided to start with an easy one and then to begin asking the most complicated ones, such as who Sayla was, who Shinso was in reality and things like that.

Shinso simply chuckled at Issei's question, his kind gaze never faltering. "Good question. Well, to answer that, I should probably show you something first," Shinso said as he got the book out of his lap, placed it on the table in front of him and got up from the chair. He then motioned for Issei to follow him as he walked deeper into the room.

After they reached the farthest part of the room, a window with closed curtains could be seen. Shinso then shot Issei a smile before opening the curtain, making a bright light enter the room.

"What..." Issei murmured as he looked out of the window. The scene in front of him was simply inconceivable. Right out of the window, in front of him, there was a huge city, beautiful, with people happily walking around, but that wasn't the unbelievable part. The unbelievable part was actually in the sky. Issei could actually see giant birds flying about, unlike anything he had ever seen.

"Surprised?" Shinso asked as he looked at the surprised expression on Issei's features. Issei nodded his head slowly, not even bothering to look at Shinso, before going silent.

"How?" Was his simple, one-word, question.

Seeing Issei's question, Issei decided to just explain everything to him in one go. "Okay, Issei, this may seem difficult to believe, but we are no longer in the place you call Earth."

Issei's eyes widened considerably. "No longer on Earth?" Issei asked slowly.

"Yes, we are no longer on earth. Well, to make things easier to understand, we are no longer in the Lower Realm," Shinso said slowly.

"Lower realm?"

Shinso nodded, "Yes, Lower Realm. You see, they are like dimensions that exist at the same time and place, but there isn't a physical connection between them... Well, the concept is a little hard to understand, but what's important is that there is a total of three realm- The Lower Realm, The Middle Realm, and the Higher Realm. Currently, we are in the Middle Realm."

"Middle realm?" Issei asked slowly, absorbing all the information he could into his brain.

"Yes, we are in the Middle Realm," Shinso said before continuing his earlier explanation. "As I was saying, there is a total of three realms. The first realm, the Lower Realm, is where normal humans, without special powers, reside, along with some other races, like lower-vampires, Devils, and Angels.

"In the Middle Realm, there is a huge difference. In here, Humans actually have two extra organs they are innately born with, something humans from the Lower Realm don't have. Those organs are the profound veins and the dantian.

"In short, you could say that the dantian is like the heart and the profound veins are like the veins and arteries. In fact, the profound veins are actually the same size as the arteries and veins and their positions are relatively close to one another. Now, the biggest difference is that while the heart pumps the blood trough the body and the arteries and veins make it travel through the body and bring it back to the heart, the dantian pumps another substance called spiritual power."

"For a lack of better words, spiritual power is, in short, the energy required for using martial skills. Martial skills are special abilities that humans from the Middle Realm can learn. They involve a large range of abilities, such as controlling the elements, strengthening the body, and various other things.

"Any race in this world can learn martial skills. They are usually recorded in scrolls, where information about how to use them is inscribed. They depict the process of how to use their powers, and the more you train in using them, the better you'll become. The stronger the skill, the higher the usage of spiritual power.

"Martial skills are divided into ranks. The higher the rank, the stronger the martial skill is. Most of the martial skills in this part of the country range from the second to the sixth rank. The most powerful one is probably of the 8th rank. Understanding everything so far?" Shinso took a pause from his long explanation to make sure that Issei could keep up with the torrent of information.

Issei immediately nodded. Although it was indeed a little too confusing, he figured that he could keep up with the explanation. In fact, he was mesmerized by the constant flow of information. Since young, he had always liked to discover new things, and what he was listening to at the moment gave him a feeling of bliss. The more he listened, the more he liked this new, mysterious world.

Seeing Issei's nod, Shinso continued his explanation, "Now, I should probably start talking about spiritual power." He began, "Spiritual power, as I said, are the source of energy from martial skills and they flow in the profound veins. They are like a sort of energy. All humans of the Middle Realm possess it, but most of them don't know how to cultivate it.

"Cultivating your spiritual power means to meditate and stimulate the speed that the spiritual power flows through your profound veins. That is done by meditating and concentrating on the flow of spiritual power. There are various different kind of cultivation methods, but the main ones consist of that.

"Every time the spiritual power does a complete cycle throughout your body, it will slightly increase. That's because every time it does a complete cycle, a part of the endless spiritual power existent on the atmosphere will be sucked into your body. Once the spiritual power reaches a certain amount, you will be able to make a breakthrough into the next level of spiritual power Cultivation."

"Breakthrough?" Issei once more interrupted Shinso's explanation, not managing to contain his surprise. It all kept getting more and more exciting. He was beginning to form an idea as to what this spiritual power was used for, and that made him even more excited, albeit a little disappointed for reasons only he knew.

"Yes, breakthrough," Shinso started. "I was just getting to that part. To begin explaining, I should probably explain the levels of cultivation.

"Well, to begin with, Cultivation is divided into various realms. They are the Elementary Profound Realm, Nascent Profound Realm, True Profound Realm, Spirit Profound Realm, Earth Profound Realm, Sky Profound Realm, Emperor Profound Realm, Tyrant Profound Realm, Sovereign Profound Realm, Saint Profound Realm, and, the last one is the Divine Profound Realm. Each Realm is further divided into ten levels.

"As I said before, every time the spiritual power increases to a certain amount, your cultivation will increase by one level, or in other words, make a breakthrough. After completing all the ten levels of the realm you're in, you'll be able to breakthrough to the following realm," Shinso then finished his explanation, and looked at Issei's face, searching for a reaction. As expected, his eyes shined with confusion.

"Hmm..." Issei began, confusion evident on his features. "I only have on question."

"What might it be?" Shinso asked with utmost patience. He had an idea of how difficult such a concept would be to someone who had been a slave not too long ago.

"Why tell me all this?" Was Issei's question, much to Shinso's surprise. Of all question he had expected, this was definitely not one of them.

"Huh?" Shinso asked, unsure of how to answer his question.

Issei then sighed, "What I mean is that there is a purpose in telling me all this, is it?" Issei began, his expression serious, much more serious than what a six-years-old could muster. In fact, it was as if all the childishness he had from before suddenly vanished, replaced by an earnest expression. "I'm from the Lower Realm. I don't have profound veins and the physical version of the dantian. I have no means of cultivating. In other words, telling me all of this right now is basically useless, isn't it?"

By the time Issei had finished explaining, Shinso was wide-eyed. From the start, Issei didn't really strike him as a smart and sharp child, but as a determined and stubborn one. Ever since the time that Shinso saw him to just a few moments ago, Issei had always acted accordingly to his age, but just now? The speech he gave, as well as that line of thought, was far from the normal of six-years-old. In fact, to be able to notice the fact that he was from the Lower Realm and didn't have means of cultivation while Shinso explained so many incredible things already proved just how advanced the Issei's mentality was.

Seeing this change of event, Shinso was first surprised but his surprise then turned into happiness. Happy that the kid he had chosen wasn't just stubborn and determined, but also unbelievably sharp. Shinso's slip curled upwards slightly as he looked at the child in front of him.

"Good question," Shinso began after recollecting his thoughts. "It's true. If you were just a normal human from the Lower Realm, telling you all of this right now wouldn't make much sense. It'd be better to gradually explain as time passed, since there would be no need for you to understand such things immediately," As he continued his explanation, his faint smile started turning more vivid, "But, it just so happens that you're not a normal human from the Lower Realm."

The instant that Shinso finished talking, Issei's eyes widened considerably. At the same time, happiness started to spring forth from withing him. He knew that with his last words just now, he had given him a hint, and if Issei had gotten it right, it would mean that Issei could cultivate spiritual power. Just from the prospect of that, Issei's mood brightened considerably. Throughout Shinso's whole explanation about martial skills and spiritual power, Issei's mood was divided between amazement and disappointment. Amazed at the world that he been brought in and disappointed at the fact that he wouldn't be able to truly be part of this amazing word, because of his lack of profound veins and dantian. But, now that Shinso had hinted that he had them, Issei was incomparably happy.

"Does this mean..." Issei began slowly, unable to hide his excitement. The previous disappointment that he had felt before was gradually beginning to vanish.

Seeing Issei's utterly excited expression, Shinso couldn't help but chuckle. "Yes, it's exactly that," Shinso began, causing Issei's mood to undergo a massive sky-rocketing. "You possess both profound veins and a physical dantian."

Faced with such a massive revelation, Issei was rendered speechless. Ever since he could remember, if he wasn't working or being hurt, he would be having fantasies about how his ideal life would be, and, in most occasions, it involved him being able to use magic. Although martial skills weren't exactly magic, from Shinso's explanations, it didn't seem far from how he imagined it would be, either.

"But..." Issei began, trying to organize his thoughts. "How is it possible?"

Sighing, Shinso looked at Issei with an earnest expression, "To be truthful with you, I'm not sure. The most probable possibly is that your parents were from the middle realm, and because of some circumstances, you ended up in the lower realm."

Issei then nodded at Shinso's explanation. Even before Shinso had begun explaining, he had already thought of such a possibility, but also wanted to know Shinso's opinion on the matter. At that moment, though, another question appeared on his mind.

"I have one more question," Issei began. "How come you know that I possess both profound veins and a physical dantian?"

At that moment, Shinso also smiled lightly, "During the travel to the castle, I cast some of my spiritual power into you in order to check for any internal injuries, and I also ended up finding out about that."

Nodding, Issei thought over Shinso's explanation. Although he hadn't said much, it had a much deeper meaning to it. It also meant that Shinso had taken Issei in while under the expression that he was just a normal human from the Lower Realm, not knowing that Issei possessed the capability to cultivate. This also meant that Shinso also chose Issei solely based on his personality, and not for other reasons. That also made Issei happy. There was also the possibility that Shinso might have been lying, but Issei didn't think that that was the case. He simply trusted Shinso by instinct.

Seeing that everything was already cleared, Shinso decided to add some more things before his servants arrived. "I just need to warn you of some things," Shinso began, catching Issei's undivided attention. "As far as most people from this realm is concerned, there is no Lower Realm or Higher Realm. Only people who are exceptionally powerful and possess a lot of knowledge know about the existence of the Lower Realm. In this entire continent, aside from my servants, the amount of people who know about the existence of the Lower Realm can be counted on one hand.

"As for the Higher Realm, it's much, much more mysterious. I only came to know about it by chance. I happened to be traveling through this continent when I came across a withered corpse. In his hands was a book. It depicted the existence of the Higher Realm, with a little knowledge about it. In short, the only thing it about it was that its inhabitants were almighty beings, named Gods. Aside from that, there wasn't much more information. At first, I was skeptical about it, but the more I read, the more convinced I became. When I finally finished reading the book, it burst into flames.

"I'm still not sure about its existence, but it surely seemed real. Either way, the amount of people on this entire planet that know about the Higher Realm should be an incredibly small number.

"So, what I mean to tell you is-"

Once again, Shinso was interrupted by Issei. "What you mean to tell me is that from now on, I should never reveal the fact that I'm from the Lower Realm and that I should never tell anyone about the possible existence of the Higher Realm, right?" Issei said, his smart personality back, a mysterious and sharp glint within his eyes.

Shinso looked at Issei in a little bit of shock before sighing. "Yes, that's exactly it."

Just as Shinso finished saying, the sound of someone knocking on the door could be heard.

"Shinso-sama? I have brought all of the servants as you ordered." Said a feminine voice, which Issei immediately recognized as Sayla's soft and pleasing to the ears voice.

Shinso then shot Issei a smile before saying, "Come in."

The doors then opened as eight servants walked in. Four of them were male and the other four females. They then walked up to the middle of the study room and bowed to Shinso and Issei.

"Raise your heads," Shinso said, a calm smile on his face. He then looked over to Issei. "These are my loyal servants. They all used to be powerful cultivators who, for different reasons, ended up in death-threatening situations. I then used my blood to save their lives and thus transforming them into vampires. They then decided to serve me as servants in order to thank me for saving them," Shinso explained. He then turned his attention back to them.

"I'm sure you must all be wondering who this young boy next to me is," He said as he motioned to Issei. "Due to some circumstances, I came across him on my way back and for some reasons I decided to take him in," He begun explaining, not giving out any specificity details whatsoever. "From now on, he is your Young Master."

Most of the servants revealed shocked expression, except for Sayla, who already knew the situation. They then turned to Issei and analyzed him, trying to sense something peculiar about the kid for Shinso to have taken interest in him and taken him in. Seeing nothing on the outer appearance, they then prepared to send their spiritual power into him to analyze him. Alas, were interrupted by Shinso.

"I know that you must all be wondering what's so special about him," Shinso began. "Well, it's nothing to do with talent or some special condition at all. I just took a liking to him," He explained.

Seeing that, the servants called off their spiritual power. Seeing that they're convinced, Shinso then began to prepare for the most important part of the day.

"Yen," He said, looking at one of the male servants. The man in question was of medium height, with short black hair that covered his left eye. His right eye was also black, just like his hair. His skin was also tanned, relatively swarthy.

"What, Shinso-sama?" The servant in question asked politely.

"Bring me a Profound System Testing Stone."

Yen was just about to nod before confusion appeared in his eyes. "Hmm... May I ask for what reason, Shinso-sama?"

"For him, of course," Shinso then answered as he motioned to Issei. At that moment all of the servant's eyes, including Sayla's widened.

"But, wasn't your quest in the Lower Realm? That means that you found him there. Is it possible that he has the Profound System?"

Shinso then sighed, "I never said that I picked him up in the Lower Realm. After coming back to the Middle Realm, I wandered around for a while before coming back to the castle, and while doing so, I found Issei," Shinso lied, but his face was so straight-forward and earnest that all servants, including Sayla, believed it.

Issei's then glistened as he listened to Shinso's explanation. If he was in Shinso's position, his excuse would have been the exact same, which showed how alike they were.

"Ah, if that's so, I'll be on my way," Yen then said politely as he excused himself and exited the room, leaving behind Shinso, Issei, and the seven other servants.

"In case he doesn't manage to find one, help him search for it," He ordered the remaining servants. They then bowed politely and left the room.

As soon as the left, Issei asked a question that had been on his mind, "What is a Profound System Testing Stone?"

"Oh..." Shinso said, once more remembering that there were still some things that he needed to explain to Issei about cultivation. "Well," He started, "The Profound System Testing Stone serves to determine what kind of Profound System you have. By the way, Profound System is a term that refers to the dantian and the profound veins.

"You see, not all Profound Systems are the same. They all have different shapes, cultivation speeds, affinities and various other things. The natural way to know what kind of Profound System you have is to reach the first level of the Nascent Profound Realm.

"Upon reaching it, a symbol will appear on your right hand. That symbol determines what kind of Profound System you have. After various years of research, cultivators gave each symbol a ranking, a name, and their characteristics.

"For example, the most common one is the Base Profound System, whose symbol looks similar to four circles intertwined together. It's also the weakest of all Profound System, with the lowest cultivation speed and no special properties. About sixty percent of the cultivator's population has them.

"Then there are various others, like the Ancient Profound System, the Mortal Profound System, the Speed Profound System, the Dark Profound System... In total, there are over a thousand Profound Systems. As I said, they are divided into ranks, them being: Low Ranked Profound System, Medium Ranked Profound System, High Ranked Profound System, Special Ranked Profound System, Legendary Ranked Profound System, Ultimate Ranked Profound System and Heavenly Ranked Profound System. Obviously, they are in order of the weakest to the strongest.

"Also, the rarer the Profound System, the stronger it is, so it can be said that it's also in order of rarity. The rarest category is the Heavenly Ranked Profound System, and it only has two Profound System in it, them being the Heavenly Light Profound System and the Demonic Dark Profound System. In the entire continent, the number of people who possess them can be counted on two hands. Both of them have extremely high cultivation speeds, with various bonuses. They are considered peerless genius on the cultivation world.

 _"Though it must be said that Profound Systems aren't actually THAT important. You see, when one reaches the Sky Profound Realm, all of the advantages given by their Profound System disappears. In other words, it's actually only important up to the peak of the Earth Profound Realm._

"Finally, there is another way to find out what type of Profound System one possesses. It's used on cultivators who have yet to reach the Nascent Profound Realm. It's the Profound System Testing Stone. It's a simple process in reality.

"All the person needs to do to determine their Profound System is to hold it the stone with their right hand for five minutes. During those five minutes, the stone will send a special kind of spiritual power to your body and determine your Profound System. Then, the symbol which determines your Profound System will appear on the stone."

"Ah..." Issei muttered quietly as he organized his thoughts. He figured that the more time he spent on this place, the more complicated and interesting it became. Thankfully, Issei was gifted with an extremely shrewd and sharp mind, so he could keep up with the constant torrent of information without getting tangled or confused.

"I wonder what type I have..." He muttered quietly. To Issei, this new information made him extremely curious as to what type of Profound System he had. Obviously, he was hoping with all his heart that it wasn't the Base Profound System. He wanted to make Shinso proud of him, so he was hoping for something at least Special Ranked.

Seeing Issei's expression, Shinso chuckled. "Don't worry, I'm sure that it'll be a great one!" He exclaimed happily with a bit of laughing. "Either way, I suppose I should tell you that, in this province, if you have a Medium Ranked Profound System, you should already be happy. Here, people who have them are already considered geniuses," Shinso explained.

"I see..." Issei muttered, with an understanding expression, although his desire stayed the same. Nevertheless, he still hoped for at least a Special Ranked Profound System. Suddenly, his expression changed to one of confusion as he realized something that Shinso had said.

"Hmm..." Issei said, trying to remember the right word, "You said "in this Province", right?" Issei asked, "Does this mean that we are in some sort of Province?"

Hearing Issei's question, Shinso once again remembered that there was still much more to tell Issei. Sighing, he began explaining, "Sorry, I forgot to tell you about that," He began, an embarrassed look on his face, "The continent we are in is called the Profound Sky Continent. It is then divided into various countries and one of them is the Country of the Nine Provinces, the one we are in. Out of all the countries, the Country of the Nine Provinces is the only one that isn't part of the Profound Sky Alliance. This alliance is led by the Divine Phoenix Country, the strongest of all the other countries. These countries are all connected by land, but the only one who has a frontier with the Country of the Nine Provinces is the Blue Wind Country.

"The ruler of the Country of the Nine Provinces is the Jiang Dynasty, while the ruler of the Blue Wind Country is the Imperial Family. Each country has their own Imperial Family which leads them while the Country of the Nine Provinces is the only one that is led by a dynasty instead of an Imperial Family.

"We are located in the Azure Province, one of the only ones that share a border with the Blue Wind Country. We are also known as the weakest out of all the other nine provinces. Finally, the city we are in is called the Azure Tiger City, and I'm its mayor," Shinso explained while putting on a prideful tone when he said that he was the mayor.

Issei also paid close attention to all of Shinso's words, and when he said the last sentence, he couldn't help but be surprised, "You are the mayor of this city?" He asked, unsure if had heard it correctly.

"Yes, surprised?" Shinso asked, a knowing smirk on his handsome features.

"Yes..." Issei muttered, before explaining his motives, "If you are the mayor of the city, why go travel to the Lower Realm? Don't you have enough work here already?"

Once more, Shinso's eyes widened. He still didn't get used to the advanced line of thought that Issei had. He then sighed, trying to get himself to get used to it, "Well, you see, the reason why I travel to the Lower Realm for quests is quite simple, really," He began, "It's mainly because of a promise I had made long ago."

"Huh?" Issei said as he tilted his head to the side.

"A long time ago, I was traveling around the Lower Realm. There, I made a friend. He used to hunt those who committed evil sins there, and I found him by the occasion. Coincidentally, his name was also Shinso and he was a vampire, like me. The main difference between us is the fact that Vampires of the Lower Realm obviously can't cultivate, and thus they are infinitely weaker than Vampires from the Middle Realm.

"One day, when I went to the Lower Realm, I found him on the verge of death. His last wish was for me to take his name and to continue hunting the evil people from the Lower Realm. From that moment on, I started to occasionally travel to the Lower Realm in order to hunt those people, accepting requests as a bounty hunter," Shinso finished explaining.

"Ah..." Issei muttered, understanding what had happened. So the reason why Shinso went to the Lower Realm was because of a friend, huh? It made sense.

"Either way, that isn't the focus right now," He interrupted Issei's line of thought as he walked back to his chair, grabbing his book from the table, "For now, let's just wait for them to bring the Profound System Testing Stone for us so we can find out what kind of Profound System you have," He finished as he started reading his book.

Seeing that Shinso had stopped talking, Issei looked around, trying to find something to do before settling on reading a book. He then walked over to one of the shelves and randomly grabbed one of the books from it. After opening, he found out with happiness that the language used in writing was the same from what he was used to in the Lower Realm.

Normally, Slaves wouldn't be able to read, but Issei was an exception. Every time his previous Young Master was having classes about reading, writing, and mathematics, Issei would always be in the same room, bringing his young master and the teacher whatever they asked for. Because of that, he was able to listen to most of the classes and to learn how to read, a little of writing and the basics of mathematics.

Obviously, if he had the intelligence of a normal child, he would never be able to learn such things from second-hand while doing chores, but as shown before countless times, Issei was special. He was impossibly smart and was able to absorb information quickly. Also, every time he had free time, he would practice reading, writing, and math, so that helped him greatly.

As Issei began to read the book, he noticed that although he could read it, he had some difficulties. There were various words that he didn't know, and he was only able to read by guessing what they meant based on the context. From what he could tell, the book was a tale of a hero of sorts.

After a while, the door to the study opened, and all the eight servants walked inside. Yen was carrying a medium-sized strange looking black stone in his hands. All around the black stone, golden markings could be seen.

As soon as Shinso saw the strange looking black stone he stood up and motioned for Issei to do the same. After closing his book, he also stood up and walked to Shinso's side.

"Thank you, Yen," Shinso said as he picked up the black stone from Yen's hand and handed it to Issei. "Now, Issei, you'll feel a little uncomfortable at first, as if ants were walking on your skin, but just ignore it, okay?"

Issei quietly nodded, looking at the black stone in his hands. After seeing his nod, Shinso placed his hand on top of the black stone and channeled some of his spiritual power into it, activated it. Sending Issei a smile, he said, "It's activating now."

Once more nodding, Issei focused his attention on the stone. Soon, he could feel something coming out of the stone. It was also at that moment that he felt as if something was crawling on top and beneath his skin. It was a rather unconformable feeling, but it was also light, so it wasn't something that Issei couldn't handle.

After a short moment, the stone started to shine with a beautiful white glow. At first, the glow was weak, but it soon became stronger and stronger. It soon reached the point that it was difficult to look at. Seeing that, Issei could only stare in shock as the glow kept getting stronger.

Just when it seemed that the glow couldn't get any stronger, the previous white glow turned pitch-black. It was also at that moment that wind began to build around Issei, like a little hurricane that encircled only him, making his clothes sway violently. It then became stronger and stronger to the point that he was having difficulty staying in place. Shinso and the other servants were also staring in shock.

"What..." Shinso muttered, shock written all over his handsome features. The servants all around him were muttering similar things with also similar expressions.

Issei, on the other hand, was the most shocked of all. He could feel a crushing pressure upon him, forcing him to his knees. At that moment, the wind reached it's top speed, slashing against Issei's large shirt, creating countless holes in it. It then began to cut his own skin, drawing out blood. The moment the blood was mixed in the wind, the previous colorless wind turned pitch-black.

From the outside, all everyone could see was a pitch-black wind the surrounded Issei, making it impossible for anyone to see him.

When Shinso noticed that, he was about to take a step forward when the dark wind started converging into a point of the black hurricane. It soon began to swirl around in a funnel as they permeated into the stone in Issei's hand. When it was all absorbed by the stone, what appeared before their eyes was a painting Issei clad in torn clothes with cuts all over his body holding a pitch-black stone, the markings around it had disappeared.

When Shinso looked at the stone, his eyes widened even further. He had seen all kinds of things happening when a stone determined the type of Spirit System that a person had, but never before had he seen such reaction. Even when he witnessed the stone reveal a Heavenly Ranked Profound System mark, the reaction was only a little of light, not comparable to Issei's in any way. Also, there was no wind whatsoever.

As he stared in shock at the stone, a dark light emanated from it, even darker that the pitch-black color of the stone, making it possible to discern its shape. The dark light soon traveled around the stone, making an extremely complicated shape.

At the center, there was a circle that was surrounded by archaic symbols, which were then encircled by even more complicated markings that gave birth to two parallel sickle-looking blades that came out from both sides, each with archaic-looking symbols on its borders. Those blade-shaped markings each had a smaller blade-shaped marking at the top that resembled a scimitar. Between the two large blade markings and above the circle was what appeared to be a gem shaped marking, also covered in archaic symbols.

Around the entire marking where flame-like marking around it, giving off a majestic figure all-together. When Shinso saw that marking, it was as if he had stopped breathing. He instantly dashed to one of the shelves, grabbed a worn-out and ancient book and opened it on its last page. On it was a magic seal that made it unable to see what was written, but Shinso quickly unleashed it.

When he saw what was on the page, he looked once more at the symbol on the stone and then at the page again. When he did that, the book fell from his hands, his eyes filled with astonishment, and even fear.

"... Even though... there are some differences..." He muttered weakly, "It's definitely it..." He said, his breath growing more and more ragged by the second. At the end, he screamed, "It's the Grim Reaper's Symbol!"

* * *

 _ **A/N:** Well, you'll be reading this for one of two reasons. You either read the entire chapter or felt like dropping the story mid-way through the chapter and decided to do as I suggested and read this before making your decision. I'll now explain explain my story so you can have an idea of where it's going in the future._

 _To start with, as I said before, my initial idea was completely changed. On this new version, I got the universes from 5 different Chinese novels, them being: Against The Gods (I got the name from my fanfic from this one), Martial God Asura, Battle Through The Heavens, I Shall Seal The Heavens and Heavenly Jewel Change._

 _After getting those universes, I mixed them all into a single universe, mixing their various elements into a single, solid story. So, in fact, my new piece is, in reality, a fan fiction of the 5 series I mentioned. Now the tricky part is: Almost none of the DxD's readers have actually read this stories, so I couldn't just throw elements from the out of the blue, like in normal fan fictions. As such, I came to a conclusion: I would explain the lore of this new world from the start, explain their character and techniques, throughout the series, just like a real piece of fiction._

 _As such, no real knowledge about the 5 Chinese novels will actually be needed and absolutely none from the DxD universe. In fact, I ask you, readers, to just treat it like a work of fiction, and not a fan fiction (I will obviously state that I didn't create things and where I got them from. I will take credit for nothing)._

 _The reason why I didn't erase this story from this site and continued with it in the DxD category was simple. I had already started it on the DxD category and there isn't a category for any of the stories I mentioned before. Also, the name of the main character is Issei, although they won't resemble each other at all, and I also plan to add a character or two of DxD into this story in the distant future._

 _Now, I ask you to visualize the following scenario: You are casually reading through a site with various written fictions, and you see one with the following introduction and tags:_

 _The only thing that he knew throughout his short and miserable life was that he was a slave. He had no family. His days consisted of serving his masters and being beaten afterward. Even though he was in such a precarious situation, he still held hopes that he would be freed in the future._

 _One day, everything changes. He gets thrown in into a whole new world. A world with magic, with monsters, with majestic kingdoms and, more important than anything, with a prospect of a new and better life. This is the story of how a simple slave ascended to a level of all other beings. A story filled with adventures, mysteries, romances, tragedies, filled with the essence of life._

 _Tags: Magic, New World, Confident Protagonist, Multiple Realms, World Travel, Gods, Hellish Training, Comedic Undertone, Weak to Strong, Harem, Adventure, Fantasy, Magic._

 _I now ask you this: Would you read it? If yes, then I think that you should this fan fiction. If no, then the story just isn't for you._

 _Now, some extras: In this story, I will not do the same mistakes I did on some of my previous stories, more specifically Danmachi fan fiction, The Legendary One (Don't bother reading it. After re-reading it I realized how much it sucks)._

 _In this one, I'll not rush the relationships between characters. In TLO, a female just had to see the main character and she would fall in love. Just like that. In my this one, I'll slowly progress the relationships, focusing on each girl individually, taking my time for them to fall in love. Also, romance will not be my main focus at the start._

 _Secondly, I plan for each character to have a separate personality, they will not be two-dimensional characters like in TLO. Furthermore, my writing also has improved by leaps and bounds from the time I entered the Hiatus in TLO. In fact, the reason I haven't updated for such a long time my fan fictions was because I was focusing on improving my writing in order to bring out this fan fiction's true potential._

 _Thirdly, the main character will not start OP, like in TLO. Although he will have some OP tendencies, and at the very beginning he will be overpowered (Only at the beginning. He'll soon find out that every good thing has a bad side), he will have to work hard and acquire power with his own sweat and blood._

 _He will have to do countless sacrifices, pass countless trials and go against various people in order to grow stronger. He will have to work for it._

 _Lastly, the world of the fiction will not be dream-like like in TLO. It's obvious that everything that happens in TLO always benefits the main character. In this on, it will be more realistic. The Protagonist, Issei, will have time where he gets lucky and times where he suffers. Not everything will go according to how he wants._

 _Lastly, for God's sake, if you didn't like the story, I ask that you not flame it on the comments. If you didn't like it, just unfollow and un-favorite if you had done so before, and if not, just ignore this story. I don't need you explicitly telling me that you hate it because it's not like a DxD story at all. Of course, if you didn't like it for another reason, feel free to comment on why you didn't like it._

 ** _Well, I guess this is it. Until the next chapter!_**


	4. The Grim Reaper's Symbol

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

 **Wow, just wow! When I made such changes to the story, I was expecting that the amount of followers I had would be halved. Never, in my wildest dreams had I ever thought that it would actually increase!**

 **I'm incomparably happy, guys! Deep thanks for all of those that decided to give this story a go. I promise that I'll try my utmost to keep this story interesting. Now, because of some people's requests, I'll clarify my schedule of releases.**

 **Aside from the story being based off on various Chinese stories, I also decided to bring another characteristic of Chinese stories to it. That characteristic is short but constant chapters.**

 **So, my schedule will be as follows: I'll try to post a chapter every single day, and at least one every two days (In case I don't have enough time. Exams weeks, for example). So, it's obvious that my releases will be much, much more frequent than before. Like, seriously, it got from one eve** **ry two months to one every day and at the bare minimum one every two days** **!**

* * *

Shinso couldn't possibly believe in the scene unfolding in front of him. It was simply impossible! Extraordinary! Such a mark... it was more than enough reason for him to be awe-struck to this degree.

Truth be told, Shinso, being an immortal vampire, had lived for countless years. He had seen empires rise and fall, forests wither, lakes dry, but never before had he ever been so astonished. The mark was just unbelievable to that extent!

That seemingly mysterious and strange mark had a much deeper meaning than it shown. Its name was the Grim Reaper's Symbol, and for a good reason. It meant that if you were to ever face someone with that mark in battle, you would be as good as dead.

People who possessed that mark were above geniuses. They were above everyone else. They were truly blessed by the Heavens. The reason for that was simple. As all kind of marks, it brought different benefits, and the ones that the Grim Reaper's Symbol brought were endless and each one of them astonishing.

People with such a mark would possess unbelievably fast cultivation speeds and a strengthened Profound System. It also instantly increased a person's life by 300 years. That alone already deserved such praise.

In the cultivation world, it was a well-known fact that the higher your cultivation, the longer you would live. It was said that after reaching the Emperor Profound Realm, one would have one thousand more years to live, in the Tyrant Profound one would have two thousand more years, and on the Sovereign Profound Realm, even more.

With all that said, it could be seen that a bonus of three hundred years right at the start was a heavenly bonus. It was also like that because the amount of people in the entire continent who could reach or have reached the Emperor Realm could be counted on two hands. There wasn't even a single one Tyrant Profound Realm expert!

Another one of the bonuses was also the fact that their Spiritual Power would be denser than everyone within the same level of cultivation. That meant that not only their skills would be much stronger, it also meant that they had more Spiritual Power at their disposal, which was an unquestionably huge advantage in battle.

All of those bonuses contributed to the reputation of the Grim Reaper's Symbol. But, the people who were actually aware of such an existence were few within few. That was because the Grim Reaper's Symbol was only a legend, something that may have appeared in the ancient times. Because of that, only people with high statuses, like the Jiang Dynasty, the Imperial Family, and other powerful entities knew of its existence. Fortunately enough, Shinso was an exception.

How could a person as lowly as a mayor of a random city of the weakest district have such information? Many people knew that Shinso was old, but not how much. The truth was that Shinso had been alive since the ancient times. Because of that, he, of course, had heard of the legendary Grim Reaper's Symbol, but even back then it was considered a legend. In fact, it's existence was actually uncertain and no one knew if it even existed or where information about it came from.

To actually see such a legendary mark right in front of him... one could imagine how astonished Shinso was at the moment.

Looking at the mark with widened eyes and then at the roughed up Issei holding up the stone, Shinso somehow got back to his senses. He immediately looked back at his servants.

"All of you, leave!" He ordered loudly in a bellowing tone. Normally, he would treat them with much more respect, since he was friends with all of them, but the current situation required drastic measures.

The servants, seeing Shinso's commanding expression and tone of voice, didn't dare to dally around any longer and quickly exited themselves from the room, all with still stupefied faces at the reaction caused by the stone.

Obviously, they had seen the Grim Reaper's Symbol but didn't know what it represented, so the reason why they were like that was solely because of the reaction caused by the stone upon identifying Issei's Profound System.

The moment that all of them left the room, Shinso hurried to Issei's side, carefully took the stone out of his hands, and helped him up. It was obvious that the child was barely conscious.

"What..." Issei muttered weakly, a dumb-struck and pain-ridden expression on his face, "Happened?"

Shinso, in turn, ignored him and brought his body up to the table, laying him there. Only after checking his body for any fatal wounds did he finally speak.

"Are you alright, Issei?" He asked in a soft tone, concern evident in his voice. He had obviously seen how rough that black hurricane was, and couldn't help but to be worried about the frail child.

"Not really," Issei muttered slowly, still in pain, but getting better. It seemed that the moment that the stone got off his hands, he started to regenerate. He then looked straight into Shinso's eyes. Brown, sharp, eyes peering into gray, wise, eyes. After staring for a couple of moments, he finally asked, "What exactly happened?"

At that question, Shinso couldn't help but sigh. Although he wasn't over from the surprise that Issei's mark had caused him, it already had diminished to a point that it wouldn't affect him much. "What happened was that the stone identified ritual of your Profound System."

Issei remained quiet for a few more moments before asking, "That reaction..." He began, his face now unbelievably serious, not even a bit like the face that someone from his age could muster, "Was it a good or bad thing?"

"Good or bad?" Shinso asked, astonishment all over his handsome face, "It was perfect!"

"Perfect?" Issei asked puzzledly as he tried to put the pieces together with his sharp mind, "Could it be... that it is one of the two Heavenly Ranked Profound System?" He said, excitement obvious in his voice. If it meant that he had a Heavenly Ranked Profound System, he wouldn't care one bit about the pain he had experienced earlier. Furthermore, he had already gone through much, much worse.

"Heavenly Ranked Profound System?" Shinso said with a sneer, "Please, don't belittle your Profound System. It's an insult to call it that!" He exclaimed at the end. He had long since lost his calm and collected demeanor. The shock from Issei's Profound System made him unable to remain calm.

"What?!" Issei exclaimed, instinctively trying to get up from the table, only to fail due to his injuries. Even after falling back, Issei's countenance didn't show pain, only surprise, as he continued, "But didn't you say that the Heavenly Ranked Profound Systems were the most powerful?"

"Yes, I did indeed say that, but it was only because there was no need to tell you about a legend."

"Legend?" Issei asked, astonished. His small but sharp head already starting to piece what Shinso had said to together. "Does this mean..." He began carefully, "That my Profound System is something from the legends?"

If it had been a normal occasion, Shinso would be surprised at the speed that Issei had understood what he meant, but this was definitely no normal occasion. Instead, he continued, "Exactly. Your Profound System is something that is considered a legend and not many in this country are aware of it.

In fact, the common knowledge is that the Heavenly Ranked Profound System is the highest rank since there aren't any records of someone ever possessing the same system as yours. Information about it simply appeared one day."

By each word that Shinso muttered, Issei's expression grew happier. It was obvious that Shinso was extremely excited, making Issei glad. From the start, the only reason that he wanted to have a high-ranked Profound System was to make Shinso, his savior, proud of him. Now that he had such a legendary Profound System, he felt quite accomplished.

"So, what is the name of my Profound System?" asked Issei, his eyes shining in anticipation.

Shinso then explained everything he knew about the Grim Reaper's Symbol, not leaving anything out. By the end of the explanation, Issei was incomparably awe-struck.

"Amazing..." muttered Issei. At first, he was happy because Shinso was excited about his Profound System, but after hearing about it, he couldn't help but to also become excited. To him, it was as if the Heavens that felt that his life had been way too unfair and decided to gift him this to make up for it.

Immediately, a thought flashed through Issei's head as he remembered the precarious situation he was in. Throughout the entire conversation, he had remained lying on the table, bleeding, with his clothes torn.

"Hmm..." Issei said, somewhat bashfully and awkwardly, "Do you have something to treat my injuries?" He finally asked.

Shinso, who was too busy being excited had completely forgotten about Issei's precarious condition. At that moment, Issei had snapped him out of it.

"Oh!" muttered Shinso quickly as he extended his arm, making bandages appear from mid-air before lifting Issei's garments up and began to tend to his wounds. Truth be told, Shinso was quite ashamed to have forgotten about such a pressing matter, but there was nothing he could do about it except to take care of the injuries as fast possible.

The moment he finished cleaning them up, Shinso immediately covered them up in bandages. Luckily, all the cuts were superficial, as such, Issei hadn't lost much blood and was quite fine.

"Sorry about that..." Shinso muttered somewhat awkwardly.

"I too had forgotten about it, so there's no problem," Issei quickly said, his words truthful. Because of all the adrenaline he had felt, his injuries were completely ignored by him throughout the conversation and even forgotten.

Seeing that Issei was now alright, Shinso quickly organized his thoughts, drove away his excitement and finally got back to his noble-like character.

"So, Issei, back to more pressing matters, since you have such talent, we shall begin your cultivation training soon. In fact, we will begin it as soon as your injuries are healed, is that alright?" He asked, although there wasn't much room for options.

"Yes," Issei said respectfully, also regaining his calm and collected composure. In fact, his face and aura were actually back to the innocent one that he had used to have. If one were to look at him at the moment, they never would be able to imagine just how sharp Issei was. At the moment, he seemed pure, innocent and slightly bashful, even more so than a kid his age would be.

Obviously, that change in personality from both parts was just instinct. Shinso naturally had to have a noble-like character, being a mayor at all, so his default composure was that of nobility

Issei, on the other hand, only showed his true, cunning and shrewd personality on conversations, and normally acted cute and innocent, like kids his age did. That was something that was simply natural to him. It was as if it was some kind of deception to have people underestimate him. He had learned that through his years as a slave. The more underestimated and innocent people thought he was, the better.

"Then, I'll have you go to rest in your room for now. I'll pass by your room today at night to check on your injuries," He said as he helped Issei down from the large table and onto his feet.

"Can you walk?" Shinso asked as he held Issei, afraid of him falling. Normally, such light injuries wouldn't be detrimental to the point of affecting a person's ability to walk, but Shinso also knew that the stone had also drained a lot of Issei's energy.

"Yes," said Issei after moving forward a few steps. Although he was extremely tired and it hurt every time he walked, it wasn't impossible to keep a straight back and walk forward.

"Good," Shinso praised as he directed his attention to the door. "Later on I'll also tell you tomorrow's schedule since you should be able to cultivate by then. I'm calling Sayla right now."

He then sent a mental message to her using through means of a martial skill, telling her to come over.

Soon, the door opened and Sayla came in. Shinso then instructed her to bring Issei to his room. Doing as she was told, she quickly walked out of the room with the 6 years old child, leaving Shinso alone in the room.

Once they had walked out, Shinso's body fell down on the chair near him, letting out a deep sigh.

"Grim Reaper's Symbol, huh?" he murmured, a rare expression on his face. "Seems like I have found myself a rather interesting child... I wonder what other things will happen in the future after this..."

* * *

 **I said that I would keep the author notes to a minimum, but I just feel like saying some things. The interesting chapters, with fights and all the good stuff, are just around the corner. In a couple of chapters,** **we will finally see some action!**

 **Also, yes, Issei will be OP, but he will have to work for it. Think that the Grim Reaper's symbols are going to just help him? Please, I'm not that good of a guy to just hand him some awesome power like that. Obviously, there will be setbacks. You'll know what I mean in the next couple of chapters**.


	5. Well, I'm Afraid We Might Have A Problem

**For the next two or four chapters, there'll not be much fight scenes, but after that, there'll be action after action. Non-stop for countless chapters. What I mean is, the start is the most boring part of the story since it's just building the foundation for the good part, so please bear with it.**

* * *

Just as Shinso said, late at night, he passed by Issei's room in order to check on his injuries and to tell him tomorrow's schedule.

Knocking on the door, Shinso said "Issei? Can I come in?"

"Yes," Was the faint reply. Seeing that, Shinso didn't waste any time on getting inside the room. After entering, he saw Issei laying on his bed beneath the covers.

"How are you feeling?"

"Much better," Issei said, somewhat bashfully, "I'll probably be able to train tomorrow."

"Good," Nodded Shinso. That's one the reasons he came to the room in the first place. "Either way, Issei, tomorrow we'll start your cultivation training. Now, there is some info that you are required to know.

It's about Martial Skills. You see, before I just merely briefed you on it. Now, I'll deepen your knowledge a little so we'll be be to progress more smoothly tomorrow," Shinso continued as he grabbed a chair and sat down in front of Issei's bed.

"Okay," Issei nodded, anxious to learn new knowledge. He was by nature attracted to information and learning new things, so he couldn't help but to be excited.

"To start with, there are two main types of Martial Skills. They are Cultivation Skills and Ability Skills. Normally, Ability Skills are just called Martial Skills and Cultivation Skills are called simply called Cultivation Skills, so most people don't know that they enter the same category. Either way, I'll refer to them as they are usually called," Shinso began.

"Now, there is are fundamental differences between Cultivation Skills and Martial Skills. Firstly, the main purpose of Cultivation Skills is to absorb energy and replenish and increase your Spiritual Power, while Martial Skills use your Spiritual Power to create things out of nothing.

As I said earlier today, Martial Skills are divided into rankings. The higher the ranking, the stronger the skills is. So, that means that if the skills is a Cultivation Skills, the bigger the amount of Spiritual Power you will be able to absorb and if it's a Martial Skill, the stronger the ability will be." Shinso then paused for a moment as he shot Issei a glance, trying to see his reaction. Not surprisingly, his countenance contained shyness. Seeing that, Shinso knew that he wasn't on what he had begun to call the sharp mode yet.

Sighing, Shinso continued, "Well, I'll talk about Martial Skills, the Ability Skills, first. You see, there are various powers that one can employ with Martial Skills. For example, this Martial Skill is called Flair Blaze," Shinso then raised up his left hand in front of Issei and raised his index finger. After entirely lifting up the sleeve that covered his arm, he murmured "Flair Blaze". Fire then began to build up on Shinso's finger. Seeing that, Issei couldn't maintain his shy expression any longer, entering sharp mode.

Seeing that he had caught the child's attention, Shinso smiled as he continued, "As you can, the Martial Skill Flair Blaze allows me to create fire. Obviously, I can control the size and intensity of the blaze. For example.." Shinso continued as the flame on his finger grew wider and stronger, "If I add more Spiritual Power, the stronger the Blaze will be."

"Obviously, the opposite is also correct," As he said that, the relatively large flame shrunk down considerably, even smaller than the original flame.

Issei kept on watching with rapt attention, his mind working on things that even Shinso couldn't figure out.

"As you can see, the higher the amount of Spiritual Power I put into the Martial Skill Flare Blaze, the stronger the flame will be, but there's a limit," At that moment, the flame on his fingers suddenly exploded outwards, covering his entire hand. Issei could feel heat, even from that distance.

"This," began Shinso, "Is the highest level of power that the Martial Skill Flare Blaze can sustain. Even if I were to place all of my Spiritual Power into it, the flame would continue the same. That's because it's only a rank 1 Martial Skill, so it obviously has its limitations."

As he finished explaining, the blaze disappeared. On Issei's face, a thoughtful expression could be seen. Seeing that the child had no questions to ask, Shinso continued, "Now, obviously, if I were to use a higher ranking Martial Skill, such as Mighty Flame, the limit would also increase and the amount of Spiritual Energy necessary to ignite the same amount of fire would be less," At that moment, Shinso's entire arm burst on fire. Thankfully, he had lift up the sleeve beforehand, or else he would have lost a rather expensive clothing.

"This is the amount of fire I can bring out while using half of the total power of the rank 2 martial Skill, Mighty Flame. If I wanted, I could ignite both arms on fire at the same time." After finishing that part of the explanation, he stopped sending Spiritual Power to the fire, making it disappear, and pulled back his sleeves.

"Now, do you have a deeper understanding about Martial Skills?"

"Yes," Issei nodded, his face not giving Shinso even a glimpse of what was going on in his sharp and genius mind.

"Now that you know the principles, there isn't much left to explain about Martial Skills.."Shinso then paused as he recalled some other info. "Oh, there's something more. Martial Skills aren't only used for attack. There are many kind of Martial Skills, hence why they are called Ability Skills and not Attack Skills.

There are skills that allows you to consolidate weapons out of Spiritual Power, to fly, to bring forth the five elements, to breath underwater, to increase your strength, to transform your body... Well, there is no limits to what Martial Skills can do. Anything you imagine, it can be done." Shinso then smiled.

"Hmm..." At that moment, Issei finally began speaking. "How, exactly, are Martial Skills learned? Do we simply make them?" He asked, his eyes flashing in curiousness.

"Ah," Shinso said as he remembered that he had forgotten about something crucial. "You see, you can only create Martial Skills after reaching the Sky Profound Realm, and even then, they would be weak. To create high ranking martial Skills, ranking 6 or above, one would need to have at least the cultivation base of the Tyrant Profound Realm.

As for how they are created, they simply imagine what type of skill they want to create, find a method to create it through using their advanced cultivation base and then write down on a scroll how to train in that skill and what it does." Shinso explained.

"Ah," Muttered Issei, understanding. So, the way of learning Martial Skill would be from reading on how to use them from scrolls, huh? Interesting.

"Well, enough of Martial Skills for now," said Shinso, "Now, I'll talk about Cultivation Skills. As the name suggests, these skills are used for absorbing energy from the atmosphere and making them your own. That process is simple, really.

First, you need to absorb Spiritual Power from the atmosphere into your body. After that, they'll naturally flow into your Profound Veins. After going through your entire body once, part of the Spiritual Power will return to the atmosphere while the other part will become forever yours to use.

Cultivation Skills consists on the way you absorb the energy from the atmosphere. To give a raking to such skills, many factors are taken in consideration. They are the amount of Spiritual Power absorbed, the speed in which it's absorbed and how much of it goes back to the atmosphere.

Obviously, the higher the ranking of the Martial Skill, the bigger the amount of Spiritual Power absorbed, the faster the speed and the lower the amount of power that goes back to the atmosphere."

Shinso then stopped, took in a breath to regain his breathing because of the non-stop talking, and then continued, "You see, the amount of Cultivation Skills pale in comparison to the amount of Martial Skills. That's also because to create a low rank Cultivation Skill, the cultivation of the Tyrant Profound Realm is required. Because of that, the amount of Cultivation Skills is sparse.

In fact, most of the cultivators of the country of the Nine Provinces only use one Cultivation Skill, which is the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Absorption. Only disciples from great sects, clans and families have access to different and more profound types of Cultivation Skills."

At the moment that Shinso said that, Issei couldn't help but to ask, "Do you have a different type of Cultivation Skill?"

"Yes," Shinso nodded, a prideful expression taking over his features, "The cultivation skills I use is a rare one that I found while exploring the continent. It was found in some expert's tomb. It's called Heavenly Energy Absorption. It's a rank 4 Cultivation Skill. Probably, in this entire country, the only ones with Cultivation Skills on that level is the Jiang Dynasty."

As he finished speaking, his face grew serious, "Issei, in my entire life, I have never taught it to anyone, but I plan to teach it to you tomorrow. You must promise me that under no circumstance will you ever reveal it to anyone else."

Quickly nodding, excitement filled Issei's face. Even if Shinso hadn't prohibited him from telling other people, he wouldn't do so anyways. He was a rather selfish person.

"Now, I'll be going now," Shinso said as he got up from his chair and stared walking away. Before reaching the door, he looked back at Issei. "Try to get a good night's rest, since tomorrow from morning until afternoon, your schedule will be cultivating non-stop in order to try to break through into the first level of the Elementary Realm withing a week,"and with that, Shinso left the room, letting Issei behind to think on what he had just learned.

"Interesting..." began Issei, a smile appearing on his face. He was rather excited to start learning, but he knew that he would have to wait until tomorrow.

"Well, the faster I sleep, the sooner I'll wake up," He muttered to himself before laying down on his bed, calming his mind and drifting into sleep.

* * *

At the moment, both Shinso and Issei were sitting facing each other in a wide and empty room. They had gone there just after breakfast. Issei would finally set foot on his cultivation journey!

Currently, Issei had his eyes closed, listening closely to Shinso's instructions.

"Before we begin to cultivate, it'd be better if you had a better understanding on you Profound System," Shinso began slowly as he watched the child in front of him.

"And what better way is there than to visualize it yourself?" Shinso asked in a rhetorical way, quickly continuing, "Viewing your own Profound System is an ability that humans from the middle realm are innately born with. It does not require Spiritual Power. Now, I'll instruct you. Do as I say."

"Okay," Nodded Issei.

"Good," Shinso said. He then begun, "First, calm your mind and spirit. Erase all thoughts from your mind."

Doing as he was told, Issei quickly shut down all the thoughts that were infesting his mind, as well as bringing down his excitement, becoming calm. That lead to a change in his breathing.

Seeing the change in breathing, Shinso couldn't help but to be astonished at the speed that Issei managed to calm himself and enter a state of clear mind. The change in breathing alone indicated that. But, Shinso quickly brought down his surprise because Issei had already done much more impressive things before.

"Now, I want you to gather your consciousness and guide it inside your body. It should take a few tries in order to do it."

Once again, he thoroughly followed Shinso's command and gathered all of his consciousness and brought it into the inside of his own body. He could feel that the Spiritual Power in the atmosphere was aiding him, which meant that to project one's own consciousness into one's body required one to be in a place with Spiritual Power, which meant that it was necessary to be in the Middle Realm.

Not surprisingly, on his first try, Issei managed to do it. At the moment, he could clearly sense all of his organs. The beating of his hear, the air in his lungs, the blood in his veins... it was all felt by him. It all felt strange to him, but at the same time pleasant. It was a sort of undescribably feeling.

He could also feel two organs that made no movement at all. One was a vast collection of things that resembled veins and the other was a round thing, roughly the same size as his heart.

Shinso could feel the change in Spiritual Power the atmosphere, and couldn't help but to be surprised. The kid actually managed to it on his first try! That was indeed praise-worthy, but he had no time to admire that.

He quickly explained the next step. "Now, that you have projected your consciousness inside your body, you should be able to see your Profound Veins and you Dantian.

Now, try to move closer to your Profound Veins. On it, there should be some round spheres on them. Those are called Profound Entrances. They are the things that absorb the Spiritual Power from the atmosphere and lead them into your Profound Veins.

In total, there are fifty four of them. Normally, on humans, out of the fifty four, only twelve of them be able to absorb energy. Those than can are considered opened and those that can't are considered closed.

Normally, it's impossible to open them. But, there are some secrets experts that posses techniques to open some of them. For example, in this country, the person who can open the most amount of Profound Entrances can open a total of five!

Either way, the more Profound Entrances you have opened, the faster your cultivation speed will be. So, it also works as a way to measure a person's talent.

Now, to differentiate opened Profound Entrances from closed ones, all you need to look is at their color. Opened are normally blue and the closed are normally black. How many of the opened ones do you have?"

As Shinso explained, Issei was observing his Profound Veins. But, suddenly, surprise appeared on his face.

He quickly counted his Profound Entrances, and upon seeing the end result, his face showed extreme surprise.

"Hmm..." Issei began, still with his eyes closed, his consciousness still observing his Profound Veins. "You said that I should have fifty four Profound Entrances?"

"Yes, why?"

"Well..." Issei began, unsure of how to explain, "Is there any occasion that a person has more or less than fifty four? Because of their type of Profound System?"

At that moment, Shinso's face showed surprise, "No, it's impossible for there to be a different number than fifty four. It doesn't matter what type of Profound System you have, the number will always remain the same."

Hearing that, Issei's expression became a bit troubled, "Well, I'm afraid we might have a problem."

 **Read and Review~!**


	6. Cultivation Monster!

"Problem? What problem?" said Shinso, confused. It's not that he wasn't smart enough to figure it out, it's just that the idea of it was simply impossible to him, so it never once passed through his mind.

"Well...," began Issei, seemingly unsure of how to say it. "I have a little more than fifty four Profound Entrances..."

"What?!" exclaimed Shinso in disbelief. "You are kidding, are you?"

Issei then shook his head, "No, it's true. Is there some way for you to see it?"

Looking at the child in front of him, he couldn't help but to be suspicious. Although it was small, there still was the chance that he counted wrong. Given that, he decided to investigate it himself.

"Yes," nodded Shinso, "There's a way," And with that, Shinso stood up and walked until he was in front of Issei. When they were apart just by a few centimeters, he placed his hand on Issei's head.

"Consciousness Invasion," muttered Shinso as he used the rank 5 Martial Skill, Consciousness Invasion. It was a rather simple Skill. For it to be used, the target needed to have a cultivation much lower than his, by at least 3 realms. After that, one would be able to send their consciousness inside the target's body. This Skill was normally used by doctors who possessed high-cultivation.

Just as he said that, the world in front of him blurred. The next second, what entered his field of vision was the inside of Issei's body. Once inside, he quickly moved his consciousness over to Issei's Profound Veins, intending to investigate it.

When he finally reached them, he couldn't help but to open his mouth wide. Issei's Profound Veins... were simple littered with Profound Entrances. Tens, no, hundreds of them!

He just couldn't believe it. In all his wide and immortal life, he had never even heard of such a thing. It was basically a law of the heavens to have fifty four Profound Entrances. What Issei had... was simply breaking the law, stepping all over it and then pissing on it!

But, it wasn't a mere one hundred, nor two hundreds, not even five hundred. It was a full eight hundred and sixty four Profound Entrances! It was roughly sixteen times more than a normal person!

As he watched the sheer massiveness of Profound Entrances, Shinso almost felt dizzy. The sight in front of him completely broke his understanding of the world.

Shinso immediately then tried to regain his breath that he had lost. After about two minutes, he managed to calm himself. Now, with a clear mind, he looked back at the Profound Entrances with an objective in mind! It was to determine how many of them were opened!

After a quick analysis, he came to the conclusion that twenty six out of the eight hundred and sixty four were opened. Seeing that, he couldn't help but to be slightly disappointed. To have so much and to be able to use so little... it was basically like having a lot of money but everything in the city you are living in is shitty. Furthermore, you are unable to leave the city!

But, after remembering the fact the people who were born with sixteen opened Profound Entrances were regarded as geniuses, and people with twenty opened are considered peerless geniuses, he couldn't help but to lose his disappointed expression. Issei, although only being able to use so little of his total, could already be considered above peerless geniuses. An existence that this continent had never before seen!

After collecting his thoughts, Shinso stopped his Martial Skill and went back to the real world. After going back, he sat down in front of Issei and looked at him earnestly.

"Although I have to say that I'm surprised that you have eight hundred and sixty four Profound Entrances," Although Shinso said that, he was far and above surprised, "Only twenty six of them are opened, and since the maximum number of Profound Entrances that can be opened is five, and to even do that is unbelievably hard, there won't be much difference to consider yourself to have fifty four in total."

Nodding his head, Issei said, "Yes, I understand. Also, I never should reveal the fact that I have over eight hundred Profound Entrances, right?"

"Yes," begun Shinso, "Under no circumstances whatsoever."

"But what if someone tried to investigate me just like you did?" inquired Issei curiously. Needless to say, he was in sharp mode.

"Ah..." muttered Shinso, slightly surprised, "Let me think."

After quickly going though his minds for some methods, an idea appeared in his mind.

"I know!" Shinso exclaimed. He then placed his hand on Issei's head and muttered, "Seal."

Just as he said that, Issei felt a surge of power entering his body, and then congregating in his forehead. Soon, the feeling disappeared.

"Done," said Shinso, slightly satisfied with his deed, "With the seal I placed on you, no one with a cultivator lower than mine will be able to send investigate the insides of your body. Also, for the person to be able to trespass the seal, they need to have a cultivation of at least an entire realm higher than mine."

"Really?" Issei said, slightly happy, "What is your current cultivation?"

The moment Issei said that, Shinso's face turned serious. "Issei, once more, I'll have to ask you to keep this a secret." began Shinso, "My cultivation is much higher than the normal of this province's experts. The person with the highest cultivation, other than me, should be around the later levels of the Earth Profound Realm. I am half-step into the Emperor Profound Realm."

Issei's eyes couldn't help but to widen, "Half step?"

"It means that I'm almost on the Emperor Profound Realm, just a thread remaining to me breakthrough, so I'm at the absolute top of the tenth level of the Sky Profound Realm."

"Wow..." muttered Issei. Shinso was basically an entire realm above the person with the highest cultivation is the Azure Province! That was rather amazing!

"Now, enough about me," Shinso said, "The important part is that for the person to trespass the seal, they need to be at least half-step into the Tyrant Profound Realm, and believe me, there is no one in this country on that level."

Issei then nodded his realm. Apparently, his secret was rather safe.

"Now, we should begin cultivating," said Shinso as he said cross-legged at Issei's side.

"Okay," said Issei as he awaited for further instructions.

"Take this," Shinso said as he handed him a scroll. "This is the rank 4 Cultivation Skill, Heavenly Energy Absorption. Study it for the week. Given your sharp mind, you should be able to understand it," said Shinso. Although it seemed like five days was the normal period of time to learn such a skill, it was far from it.

For normal people to learn a trifling rank 1 Cultivation Skill, such as the Heaven And Earth Spiritual Absorption, they normally take a couple of months. Peerless geniuses from great sects all over the country are able to do it in 1 month.

Now, it's obvious that to understand a rank 4 skill is infinitely more difficult than to understand a rank 1 skill. Geniuses from the Jiang Dynasty are probably able to learn a skill of that level in months.

To actually say to a six years old child that he should probably take one week to learn a rank 4 Cultivation Skill... was basically something impossible. Thankfully, Issei isn't any six years old child. Given all the surprises that he had given him, and his extremely sharp mind, Shinso believed that he would be able to pull it off.

After handing him the skill, Shinso cultivated for a couple of minutes before he got up and walked to the door of the room. Looking back at Issei who was reading the info on the page with extreme attention, he said, "I'll be back later to call you for lunch," and then closed his door,

After walking five steps away from the door, a sound of faint explosion could be heard. At that moment, Shinso's face dropped, "You must be kidding me..." he muttered as he ran back into the room.

The moment he entered, the first thing he saw was Issei sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed while meditating, the scroll by his side. Casting his Spiritual Power into Issei, he saw that he was already at the first level of the Elementary Profound Realm.

"There hasn't even passed ten minutes since I handed him the scroll..." muttered Shinso in disbelief.

Not only did he learn in less than ten minutes a skill that geniuses take months to learn, he actually broke through the first level of the Elementary Profound Realm in less than five seconds. Normally, after learning the skill, even geniuses would take a couple of days to gather enough energy to breakthrough into the first level of the Elementary Profound Realm, but Issei... he took a trifling five seconds!

That meant that Issei's ability to comprehend techniques was above otherworldly, something never seen before. Furthermore, it also meant that his cultivation speed was huge!

"Just what kind of monster did I bring home?" Muttered Shinso in utter disbelief. He then turned back to the door and walked over to it. At that moment, he needed to go to his room to carefully think about the cultivation abnormality that Issei was. Just as he was about to open the door...

Bang!

Shinso immediately looked back and saw that Issei was now at the second level of the Elementary Profound Realm!

"What the hell..."

Bang!

"Third Level?!

Bang!

"What is this?!" Shinso exclaimed in disbelief. In less than five minutes, Issei went from no cultivation at all to the fourth level of Elementary Profound Realm! That was simply... even more surprising than the fact that Issei had an absurd number of Profound Entrances. He was simply... A monster!

At that moment, Shinso sat down on the floor in front of Issei, carefully paying attention to his cultivation. Two minutes later...

Bang!

"Fifth level..."Muttered Shinso in disbelief.

And it continued on for the next hours...

… Sixth level of the Elementary Profound Realm!

… Seventh level of the Elementary Profound Realm!

... Eight level of the Elementary Profound Realm!

… Ninth level of the Elementary Profound Realm!

… Tenth level of the Elementary Profound Realm!

When Issei reached the tenth level of the Elementary Profound, it was already night.

Throughout the entire day, Shinso's face was of complete disbelief. He had seen countless geniuses... but never before had he seen such a monster! Issei couldn't be described by any other words. He was undoubtedly and thoroughly a cultivation monster!

Five minutes after reaching the tenth level of the Elementary Profound Realm, Issei's eyes opened. Within them, a happy glint could been. "Ah~!" Issei exclaimed in happiness as he stretched his arms.

"That felt good!" He continued. Only then did he noticed the wide eyed Shinso in front of him.

"Shinso?" Asked Issei puzzledly. He couldn't understand what made him so wide-eyed and left him with his mouth agape. "Did something happen?"

Only then did Shinso come back to his senses. "A monster..." He muttered. "Simply a monster..."

Seeing the words muttered by him, Issei couldn't help but to be more puzzled. Looking around the room, there was no one else aside from the two of them.

"Hmm..." Issei began, "Shinso?"

Shinso, in turn, took in a deep breath and collected his thoughts. He would have enough time to be surprised later on.

"Issei..." He began carefully. "Do you know what level you are in right now?"

"Hmm?" Issei said, puzzled. "I feel different in my body... First level of the Elementary Profound Realm, I guess?" No matter how smart Issei was, he could not feel what level he was because he had never cultivated before. Hence, he had no idea as to why Shinso was so surprised.

Shaking his head, Shinso said, "You are in the tenth level of the Elementary Profound Realm!"

At that moment, Issei's calm demeanor couldn't help but to be overwritten by one of complete surprise. "Is cultivation really that fast? I expected it to take more time..." He muttered. From what Shinso had said before, it seemed that cultivation was a complex thing. He had never thought that it would be that easy.

All he had to do was to read the scroll and then absorb the Spiritual Power in the atmosphere. Furthermore, it was quite enjoyable, since every time Spiritual Power entered his body, he felt replenished.

"Easy?" Shinso muttered. "Easy? Simply a monster!"

After that, Shinso explained how amazing what Issei had done was. After carefully explaining it to him, he sent Issei to his room to sleep.

Upon reaching his room, Issei was undoubtedly extremely excited. He discovered that his talent for cultivation was immense! Who wouldn't be excited?

After laying on his bed, Issei didn't sleep and instead spent the entire night cultivation. Because of the Spiritual Energy that came from the atmosphere, when cultivating for a couple of hours, Issei would feel even more refreshed and energetic than if he slept.

When it was around eleven in the morning of the next day, a loud bang sounded from Issei's room.

When Shinso who was reading in his study heard it, he immediately dropped the book that he was reading and rushed to Issei's room. After entering, he immediately noticed that Issei was already in the Nascent Profound Realm. Because of that, the Grim Reaper's Symbol appeared on his right hand.

After that, he spent his time either cultivating or studying. After one more month, he broke through into the second level of the Nascent Profound Realm.

After breaking thorough, Issei continued cultivating, but even after four months, he felt that he was still far from the third level.

Feeling surprised at how much he was taking to reach the third level, Issei examined how much more time cultivating was required to breakthrough. Much to his dismay, from the last time he made a breakthrough to the current time, the amount needed multiplied by forty times! Since he needed a month to enter the second level...It meant that it would take forty months to enter the third level!

It was with that that Issei's unbelievable boost in cultivation ended, only to be replaced by a difficult and quasi-insurmountable obstacle.

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	7. A Solution!

"Dammit," Issei muttered. It had already been four months since he had entered the second level of the Nascent Profound Realm, and he was still far from getting stronger.

Normal people would normally take 2-3 months to get past a level on the Nascent Profound Realm, but not Issei. Issei was a rather special case. He would need, at the bare minimum, forty months of non-stop cultivation to step into the third level of the Nascent Profound Realm.

If it was limited to only that, it wouldn't be too pressing of a matter. However, there was something even more troubling. After calculating a little, he discovered that in the Elementary Profound Realm, by each level he increased, the amount required would increase by twenty-fold. It would always be twenty.

After reaching the Nascent Profound Realm, it seemed that it started increasing by forty-fold each level, which meant that if his theory was correct, he would need more sixteen hundred months to reach the forth level of the Nascent Profound Realm. That was more than one hundred and thirty years!

Although he had the bonus of three hundred years because of his Grim Reaper's Mark, he would only be able to reach the fourth level at the end, because it would take fifty three thousand years to reach the fifth level!

That number... it was simply inconceivable! At that moment, Issei had three choices. The first was to give up on the path of cultivation. Needless to say, there was no way he was going to choose that.

The second choice was to change his Cultivation Skill to a higher level one, but it was probably impossible. That was because even the Jiang Dynasty, the strongest power by far of the country most powerful Cultivation Skill was only rank 4!

And, finally, there was the third option, which was to use cultivation resources. Cultivation resources were things like plants, pills and medicines that could greatly increase one's Spiritual Power.

"Seems like I'll have to get myself some cultivation resources, huh?" muttered Issei as he stopped cultivating and left his room. Throughout the four months that he had spent cultivating, Shinso had provided him some cultivation resources. Strangely enough, when using them, the progress that he would make was leaps and bounds above normal cultivation. As such, he had begun using them.

There is a rule among cultivators that is to not make use of too much cultivation resources continuously. It's said that the body would get too used to it and the person would end up becoming stuck in the later levels, with no means to increase their cultivation.

Sadly, it was Issei's only option. Even if he did get stuck, he decided that he would get the strongest he could!

After walking around a little, he reached Shinso's study. After knocking three times, he entered it.

"Oh, Issei!" Exclaimed Shinso as he looked up from some papers he was working in. "You came at just the right time!"

"Hm?" Issei muttered, his head slightly falling to the right side as looked at Shinso puzzledly.

"I have found a way to solve your cultivation problem!" exclaimed Shinso as he passed the paper he was examining on to Issei.

After picking up the paper, he couldn't help but to be surprised. It was an invitation to a tournament. Apparently, all the great powers, schools, cities and sects of the Azure Province were invited over to it.

"Shinso?" asked Issei, still confused. Although he was extremely smart, with so little information, even he couldn't figure how that would help him.

Seeing Issei's expression, Shinso began explaining, "You see, there is tournament that happens once every two years! To it, the greatest powers of the Azure Province are invited. Normally, my city wouldn't be, but I'm an old friend of the person who hosts the tournament, so he always invite me. I have been refusing him for thirty years, but he keeps inviting me!

Now, that's not the important part. As you know, the cultivation resources of this city are scarce, and won't be able to help you. Even I don't have many, since in my entire life I would always focus on Cultivation Skills.

But, it just so happens that there is a school in the Azure Province that meets our criteria, the Heavenly Might School!"

"Meets our criteria?" asked Issei puzzledly. He had long since entered sharp mode. "Do you mean that they have large amounts of cultivation resources?"

Shinso then shook his head, "Yes, but it's even better. They have a rather special policy. They would only give their disciples an extremely low amount of cultivation resources every year. In turn, they would give almost all of theirs to a single disciple. That disciple is obviously the one with most talent."

Upon hearing to that point, Issei had already figured it out. He wasn't devilishly sharp for anything. "So, I'm assuming that this school will participate in the tournament, right?"

"Yes," nodded Shinso, a smile on his face. It was obvious to him that Issei had already figured it out.

"And that I should also put on a show there to catch their attention and have me invite me to their school, right?"

Once again, Shinso nodded.

"Once there, since I caught their attention, I would already start at a high position. Then, I would slowly climb my way to the best disciple and then use their cultivation resources?"

"Exactly!" exclaimed Shinso excitedly. Even after these four months of living with Issei, he still couldn't get over how smart that the six years old and a half kid was! He was able to actually figure all that out so quickly and with so few information!

"But, you know that I can't fight, right?" continued Issei, "I don't know a single Martial Skill, since I have spent my entire time or cultivating or learning about this world..."

Shinso once more nodded his head, "That's true, you can't fight." He begun, "But it's not like that you are participating in this exact tournament. It happens once every two years. I plan on having you participating four years from now, once you have reached ten. You'll also spend these four years continuously learning techniques."

"I see..." It really did sound reasonable, but Issei still found some flaws, "But, aren't I only on the second level of the Nascent Profound Realm? By that time, I would be, at most, on the third level. I don't think that's enough to put on a show."

And that, Shinso could help but to snore. "Issei, at that time you'll be only ten. Most of the participants will be around sixteen-eighteen. Furthermore, the powers wouldn't send their strongest disciple and at most their weakest core disciple. They obviously don't want to reveal their true strength to others!

Since they are only weak core disciples, they should be around the middle or later levels of the Nascent Realms. The chance of people from the True Profound Realm is really low!

Now, remember that because of your Profound System, the quality and amount of your Spiritual Power is much higher than people of your level. On the third level of the Nascent Realm, your Spiritual Power should be as strong as someone from the around the seventh level of the Nascent Realm.

And, there is even more. The ability in which you can comprehend Martial Skills is otherworldly. If you spend the next four years continuously training and learning Martial Skills, people of the tenth level of Nascent Realm shouldn't be a match to you.

Finally, your age will be lower by at least six years than all participants, but will still probably be above them in power. That will definitely catch their eyes!"

As Issei listened to all of that, he couldn't help but to be grateful to Shinso deep within his heart. It could be seen that he had truly put a lot of thought into that matter.

"So, what do you say?" asked Shinso, wanting to know Issei's opinion.

"Yes!" happily exclaimed Issei. The idea was undoubtedly the best chance he had at becoming stronger. To say the truth, Issei didn't really care about the act of becoming stronger itself. What he wanted was to make Shinso proud of him, and it seemed that being strong fitted the bill!

"Perfect!" exclaimed Shinso excitedly as he got up from his chair, went to one of the shelves and got various scrolls from it. After handing them to Issei, he said, "These are all Martial Skills of ranks between 1 and 2. Sadly, this are the only Martial Skills that I can give you, since all my other ones are specifically for vampires. Cultivate only to replenish your energy! Focus your entire time on mastering these!"

Issei then nodded, took them, thanked Shinso and went to practice in his room. Just as Shinso said, all of them were either rank 1 or rank 2 Martial Skills. Thinking about Shinso's other skills, Issei felt sad.

Most of Shinso's powerful Martial Skills could only be practiced by vampires. According to Shinso, he is from another continent that had vampires in them. These skills were from his home land and were specific to vampires. As such, only vampires could use them.

After studying more about this world, Issei learned that all of the inhabitants of the Profound Sky Continent were humans. It seemed like all the two other races, the vampires and the elves had countries specific to their own. Shinso was probably the only non-human cultivation in the continent!

He had also learned that there were various schools in the continent dedicated to teaching martial arts. They were usually clans, sects or schools. All of their disciples were divided in levels. The levels were the same, no matter in which place they were.

The lowest level of Disciples would be the Outer Disciples. These disciples normally had extremely low talent, was assigned the most chores and had little help from the school. After that, there were the inner disciples. Inner disciples were people with talent and had some future as cultivators. They would receive much more help than outer disciples, and would not have to do chores.

Lastly, there was the last level, the core disciples. Core disciples were the disciples with peerless talent within the clan. They had an extremely high standing, could treat inner and outer disciples as servants and had a lot of help from the school.

Obviously, within schools, there were areas separated to each level of disciples, as such, they wouldn't mingle with each other. Also, schools would regularly hold tests for disciples so they increase their ranks.

As such, it was possible to start out as an outer disciple and climb up all the way to a core disciple.

During the match four years from now, Issei would be facing the weakest core disciples of the sects, but he still needed to be wary of them. As such, he devoted himself to cultivation.

Not surprisingly, Issei quickly learned all the skills that Shinso had handed him. After that, he started practicing them individually and then tried out combos. After getting rather skilled, Shinso had him battle the other servants to increase his battle experience.

Just like that, three and a half went by.

Issei was ten years old and one month at the moment. He was sitting on his room, replenishing his Spiritual Power. After all this time, he had managed to reach the third level of the Nascent Profound Realm while not cultivating much due to constant use of cultivation resources.

During this four years, Issei grew taller. He was now only slightly smaller than a ten years old kid. Strangely enough, even after training a lot, Issei's body didn't appear sturdy. In fact, his skin was soft and he looked rather feminine. That was simply something that Issei could do nothing about. If Issei was to be described, handsome wouldn't be the words. It would be either beautiful or cute. If he were to wear a dress, he could easily pass as a beautiful young girl.

Even with all that, Issei didn't really mind. He couldn't really care less if he was handsome or beautiful. To him, how the outside world viewed him didn't really matter. In fact, because of his delicate appearance, people would underestimate him, which Issei liked a lot.

In a battle, the best thing you can hope for is to be underestimated. The enemy would unconsciously lower their guard, and at that moment one could strike the fatal blow.

During this four years, Issei also learned Shinso's personal hand to hand combat, how to incorporate his Martial Skills into it and also learned battle strategies. Issei also had quick reflex, and coupled with his extremely sharp mind, he was perfect for fighting!

At that moment, he had one objective in mind. He would show off as much as he could, specially to the Heavenly Might School! He was determined to gain their attention and to enter the school!

"Issei? Are you ready?" Shinso asked from the outside. "The carriage is already here!"

"Coming!" Exclaimed Issei as he got down from his bed and opened the door. He then entered the carriage with Shinso.

On the way, Issei's hear couldn't help but to beat in an elevated speed. When fighting with the servants, they were going easy on him and it was only sparing. Soon, he would be seriously fighting! Although Issei was a person who would have it's emotion brought forth easily, the prospect of a battle was just to appealing!

"Well," Issei muttered, his face serious, on sharp mode, but still excited, "Time to see how strong these core disciples are!"

 **Read and Review~!**


	8. Tournament (01)

**Just letting you guys know that there is a big chance that I may add DxD characters into the the fanfiction. Obviously, with changed backgrounds and powers, but with same personalities. Also, if I add them, they would at most be secondary and support characters. That's all I have to say.**

 **Also, from now on, the action will finally start! Boring chapters, begone!**

* * *

During the travel to to the city where the tournament was being hosted, Azure Cloud City, Shinso and Issei didn't even once mention their course of action. Instead, they kept talking about random things.

Also, it's important to say that the Grim Reaper's Symbol no longer appeared on Issei's right hand. Instead, on his left hand was the mark of the Medium Ranked Profound System, Tiger's Profound System. Basically, the Tiger's Profound System only bonus was an advanced cultivation speed and also slightly enhanced reflexes.

Obviously, Issei's profound System did not change. Shinso had just covered the Grim Reaper's Symbol with a special type of magical paint made from a rare plant that would instantly turn into the color of skin. It's presence was also undetectable to people below the Tyrant Profound Ranking. Such a paint was priceless and rare and Shinso only had a slight amount that he acquired by chance while traveling, but he didn't think twice before using it on Issei.

If it was known that Issei had the Grim Reaper's Symbol, it would undoubtedly attract attention. Sadly, bad attention. The geniuses with Heavenly Ranked Profound System always have a high-standing in society and are immensely prideful. If they were to know that someone possessed a Profound System that made the ones that they took so much pride in look like garbage, they would spare no resources in eliminating that person. As such, Shinso decided that it would be better to keep it a secret.

Once they were nearing the city, Issei's bashful expression sharpened.

"So, which school do you think I should be most wary of?" Issei finally asked, straying away from the previous conversations and onto the real deal. It was finally time to talk business.

Seeing where the conversation was going, Shinso also became earnest. "Without a doubt, the one most likely to have the strongest contestant is the Azure Lightning School. Aside from that one, the only one worth your attention is the group from the city that hosts the tournament, Azure Cloud City."

Nodding his head, Issei inquired further, "Just to confirm, should I show off right at the start or put on a slightly good show at the starting battles and only completely use my abilities at the end?"

Thinking of that question, Shinso pondered for a while before coming up with an answer, "Although you are strong, you probably won't be able to fight on equal terms with the contestant of the Azure Lightning School on a normal occasion. For you to have an advantage and a chance to win, you must make him underestimate you, and only in the middle of your battle against him would you show your true power."

From the way that Shinso spoke, it was obvious that he didn't put the other contestants in his eyes. To him, it was a given that Issei would be the one to fight the last round with the Azure Lightning School contestant. It also is important to say that the contestant from the Azure Lightning School will only have to participate on the last battle, since it would be unfair to have him participate before.

Issei also agreed with the plan. He had a similar idea, but wanted to know what Shinso thought he should do. Seeing that the ideas was similar, Issei decided to just go with Shinso's.

They then talked some more, mostly about some previous tournaments and battles.

After about twenty minutes, the carriage stopped and a servant went to open the door.

"We're here," Shinso looked at Issei. Immediately, the ten years old child grinned mischievously before returning to his timid, delicate and bashful expression. If one were to look at him, they would think that he was a rather cute girl wearing boyish robes, and not a cunning male cultivator.

After that, they both headed out of the carriage. As soon as they stepped on the street, they saw that aside from their carriage, there were dozes upon dozes of carriages all around. Most were just parking, but from some there were people climbing off and in some, there were even people already off.

Everyone present wore elegant robes, although some being more luxurious and pompous than the others. Issei and Shinso were no exception. Shinso was wearing a long gray robe with golden decorations while Issei wore a black one. Both of them were tailor made and made specifically for males.

After standing for some minutes, a group of people made their way towards them. Leading them was a rather plain-looking purple-robed middle-aged man. On his side were to handsome youths, both wearing purple robes. They were then followed by some guards.

"Shinso?" The leading middle age exclaimed, surprise evident on his face, "You actually came?"

"Good mourning, Ye Chong," Shinso said politely with a half-bow.

"It's actually you!" He exclaimed, hurrying his pace. Quickly, he arrived right in front of him. Placing his hand on Shinso's shoulder, he exclaimed, "Brother! It has been so long! I'm so glad you finally accepted my invitation!" His face was obviously filled with joy.

"I'm sorry, brother Chong, it's just that I have been busy lately," Shinso explained, his face was also slightly joyful.

They then continued to talk for a while.

Issei, being extremely sharp, figured out who the man was from his first sentence. He was obviously the mayor of Azure Cloud City, an old friend of Shinso. As they talked, Issei slowly moved a little closer to Shinso, because the rest of the people that came with Ye Chong were staring at him.

In reality, Issei wasn't really acting. It really was his first instinct to move closer to Shinso, since he was still unused to being close to so many people and being near Shinso brought him security. Obviously, he could ignore such impulse and remain calm, but it helped him with his act.

As the conversation progressed further, Ye Chong finally noticed Issei, who by now was close to clinging onto Shinso's clothes, which, needless to say, that was entirely on purpose.

"Shinso, who's this young one? Don't tell me you finally got a daughter?" He said in surprise, eying Issei carefully.

"Daughter?" Shinso said in surprise before seeing Issei standing close to him. His eyes widened a little before he held back a laugh. Issei, on the other hand was not bothered at all, but in order to keep appearances, put on a slightly annoyed face.

"Oh? You are talking about Issei?" Shinso said, "He's not my child and neither is he a girl. He is my apprentice."

"Huh?" Ye Chong's expression was one of surprise as he looked Issei up and down again. After analyzing closely, he saw the possibility of Issei being, indeed, a boy. It also needs to be said that that possibility was quite small.

"Oh, sorry..." He said awkwardly before remembering Shinso's words, "Wait, apprentice? You actually took in an apprentice?" It would be an understatement to say that he was surprised.

"Ah, yes," Shinso said, nonchalantly, "I thought that it was already time to take one and Issei caught my interest."

"Ah, I see," He said, now eying Issei with a new look. To actually catch the interest of Shinso, it meant that this boy was not simple at all! "Oh yes, did you bring him along so he could watch the tournament and learn from it?"

"No, I brought him to participate in the tournament."

As soon as Shinso said that, not only Ye Chong, but also the two youths at his side, along with his servants and some other people that were eavesdropping on their conversation revealed expression of disbelief.

"Participate?" Ye Chong finally said. "How old is he, eleven?"

"Actually, he is ten," Shinso said, completely ignoring the surprised expressions.

"Even younger..." He muttered. Finally, he said, "Brother Shinso, you should know that right now, the youngest person participating on this tournament is already sixteen. To actually make a ten years old child participate..."

"Don't worry about that. I have faith in Issei. Anyways, can you lead us the stage?" said Shinso with a confident expression.

Seeing his expression, Ye Chong was helpless. Deciding not to argue with his old fried, he quickly brought Shinso and Issei over to the place were the arena was.

On the way, the two youths tried to talk with Issei.

"Hey, are you sure that you should be participating?" said one of them, a seventeen years old boy with long black hair and an elegant face.

"I-I think that I'll be f-fine," said Issei, stuttering a little in the process. Intentional, of course.

Upon seeing Issei's face and his stuttering voice, both of the youths felt pity for Issei. So, they decided to give him some advices.

"Little bro, if you ever feel that you'll be hurt, be sure to forfeit. At that moment, I'll immediately interrupt the match for you," said the same elegant black haired youth from before.

"Yeah, little bro, you gotta be careful," complemented the second youth, an elegant brown haired sixteen years old.

"I-I w-will," said Issei in a low and timid voice. "Hmm..." He continued, fidgeting, "Are y-you also p-particpating?"

"Ah, yes!" Both of them exclaimed. "But don't worry, little bro. If you go against us, we will go easy on you. Also, we will not hurt you. We'll let you just experience a little of battle before you forfeit, okay?" Say the black haired one with concern. He couldn't help but to feel sorry for such a frail looking boy.

The brown haired one also nodded repetitively. They then continued to chat until they reached the stage. Throughout the conversation, they again and again told Issei to be careful.

(Seeing that there are a lot of people not reading my author notes, I decided to put them in the middle of the chapter. For God's sake, my author notes are meant to be read. If you were to read them, it would make we have much, much less misunderstandings. I ask that in case you haven't read them, you now go back and read all of them starting from chapter 3 until the author notes of this one. Also, read the ones from now on. They are important! (Sorry for those that read them and also had to read this))

As Issei talked with them, he learned that both of them were quite good people. They were actually concerned for him, a stranger they just met! Well, obviously, with such a frail appearance, who wouldn't be concerned?

During the conversation, he had also learned that each power could bring at most two participates. According to their information, aside from Shinso, the Azure Lightning School was the only one to bring a single contestant.

Soon, they reached the stage. After a couple of minutes, the other contestants arrived. After that, they drew lots. They would battle with the person who got the same number.

During the entire process, all eyes were focused on the frail, girlish looking Issei. Most of the males had looks of surprise, while the females had look of surprise but were also squealing things such as,"How cute!"

They then retreated back to their original positions. Soon, an announcer began to call numbers.

"Number 1!"

At that moment, two youths quickly climbed up the stage. One was a seventeen years old blonde boy wearing a red robe, while the other one was a pretty sixteen years old black haired girl, wearing a dark blue robe.

Both of them were of the same level of cultivation, the sixth level of the Nascent Profound Realm. The battle was evenly matched, but in the end, the girl managed to catch the other by surprise and won.

"Zen Lou from the Blue Thunder Sect wins!" The announcer immediately exclaimed.

Both youths then gave each other a slight bow before jumping off the stage, walking back to their respective powers. The announcer then called the second match,

"Number 2!"

Looking at the paper in his hand, Issei sighed. In it was written the number two, which meant that it was his turn.

He then walked out, slightly bashfully and climbed onto the stage with difficulty. Throughout the entire process, all eyes were on him. Some had looks of pity, some of concern and some of even contempt. Shinso, on the other hand, had to hold back a laugh. The kid was simply to devious!

Shinso was the only one who knew how Issei really was. All the way until now, he was only acting, and doing a damn good job at it. After spending some years with Issei, he had a slight understatement of the child's personality.

He was sharp, cunning and smart. He also didn't care about how he was viewed, and only cared about himself. He also was slightly sadistic, in Shinso's opinion. Even more to people who offended him. He still remembered how Issei gave a beating to a boy that dared to ask him out and then made the boy kneel in front of him.

At the start, Issei wasn't like that. He would have a robot-like and plain personality, but as time passed, he slowly began to develop a personality of his own. It seemed that his years as a slave had left him mentally scarred, and only now were the scars healing, giving birth to his new personality.

Shinso also guessed that the reason that Issei was like that was also because of him. Shinso, himself was rather cruel. Every time that someone had offended him, he would make sure to pay the person back ten fold. It couldn't be helped, since it was an innate characteristic of vampires to have sadistic tendencies, and it seemed that after living so long with Issei, the child begun to develop a personality similar to his.

Facing Issei in the stage was an eighteen years old. He had a strong bulk, being at least two meters tall, and had a cultivation of the fifth level of the Nascent Profound Realm.

Although Issei could see his cultivation, when the youth tried to see Issei's, he discovered that something was clouding it. Courtesy of Shinso, of course.

Deciding to ignore that, the man looked at Issei, contempt evident on his face, "Kid, I don't know what you are doing here, but I suggest you that you forfeit right now before I hurt you."

"Ah..." Issei said, slightly trembling, "I'm s-sorry, b-but I can't.."

"Kid, don't waste my time. Get off the stage right now!" said the youth, now annoyed. He also released some of his aura of the fifth level of the Nascent Profound Realm.

"But..." Issei said, intentionally letting himself be pushed back by the youth's aura.

"Brat, I'm being merciful here!" He exclaimed. He didn't have enough time to battle with this kid. He knew that if he were to win, he would only be looked down at by others, so he didn't want to fight this kid. No matter if he won or lose, it would be detrimental to him.

"S-sorry, b-but I can't..."

"Hmph!" The youth said once more, now employing even more of his aura, causing Issei to be even more pressured.

"Hmm..." Issei said, a painful expression on his face. However, in his hear, he was laughing. He could only imagine this loser's face when he wiped the ground with him.

"You brat!" He exclaimed, losing his patience. He then launched a weak attack, in order to scare Issei off.

"You made me do this, Tiger Punch!" As he exclaimed the last two words, Spiritual Power condensed into his left fist, taking the shape of a tiger's head. He then ran to Issei's direction and threw out a punch. The roar of a tiger could also be heard.

As he watched the approaching attack, Issei hiddenly smirked as he put on a scared expression. He then looked back and tried to run, only to slip in the process, making the punch got past him.

"Au~!" He exclaimed as he fell face first into the ground.

To outsiders, it seemed as a stroke of incredibly good luck, but it was carefully planned by Issei. If he were to win, he would make it seem like it wasn't in purpose at all. He would make people underestimate him to the maximum extent so he could catch the Azure Lightning Contestant by surprise.

"Did he just... trip?" One of the people in in the audience said. Soon, a roar of laughter could be heard. To a cultivator to actually trip in a battle! It was unheard off. Even kids younger than Issei wouldn't make such mistakes.

"This is too funny!" Exclaimed one after another as laughter filled the air. There were people even crying from laughing. To actually trip on air amidst a battle... that was hilarious to them!

Back on stage, the youth looked at Issei with disbelief. "To actually trip... You're a disgrace to cultivators! Let big brother discipline you!" As soon as he said that, he roared, "Tiger fist"

This time, an even bigger tiger's face appeared on his hand. He then launched over to attack Issei again. This time, however, his punch was directioned at the ground beneath Issei, so even if he were to rip again, the punch would pass through him and would reach him.

Issei, once more, tried to run away, only to step onto his own robe, falling on the ground and then awkwardly rolling on the ground for a couple of meters, before stopping. Obviously, he had long since passed from the area of damage of the punch.

At this point, the audience was flabbergasted! To trip not once, but twice and to even roll for a couple of meters! How clumsy can he be?!

"Oh! This is way too funny!" The audience screamed once again, this time with even more laughter!

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	9. Tournament (02)

"You damn brat!" exclaimed the youth in rage. For him to actually miss two attacks when attacking a thirteen years old… what kind of joke was that? He had just thrown his face out of the window!

"See if I miss this time!" He then channeled the maximum amount of Spiritual Power that Tiger's Punch could sustain and then dashed towards the downed Issei.

Issei, sensing the enemy's approach, lifted up his head with a hurt expression, his eyes slightly watered.

"Ouch~! That hurt~!" He murmured with discontent in a cute voice, only to widen his eyes as he saw the giant tiger's face heading towards him. It was like a shooting star, bringing destruction wherever he went.

"AH!" He screamed as he clumsily raised his hands to block, fright all over his face. At that moment, the audience almost held their breaths. This time, there was no way that Issei would be able to block, right? Also, if the attack were to reach… to them, Issei would be crippled for life.

Not surprisingly, Issei went past all their expectation.

Just when the attack was about to land, Issei's legs between to shake from fright, causing him to drop to the ground, the attack missing by a single strand hair's space. Also, when he fell, a piece of blank paper dropped from beneath him, falling no too far away from him. Since the floor was white, the paper was went unnoticeable by all, with the exception of Shinso.

"What?!" Exclaimed the youth in rage. To him, there was no way that he would miss. No one that age would have been able to think quick enough to dodge, so to him, the match was already won. He never thought of Issei's leg failing him due to fright, and to instead end up saving him.

The audience reaction was even more flabbergasted. They had heard of many times where in battle, an opponent's leg would fail due to intense fear, causing them to lose the battle and ultimately die, but they had never heard of leg failure actually saving someone!

"What heavenly luck!" A wise old man wearing a green robe exclaimed as he held back his laugh.

The others, upon hearing his comment, burst out laughing. It truly was incredible luck! So much luck that it was hilarious!

Even Shinso was laughing, although not at Issei. No, he was laughing at the naivety of the audience. To actually be so perfectly fooled by a ten years old kid...he knew that they would want dig a hole and bury their heads in it if they were to know what was actually happening!

On the stage, the anger of the youth was barely tangible. He had missed an attack once more! That made no sense whatsoever!

"You damn brat," screamed the youth in anger. "Although your luck is quite commendable, this battle has been dragged to long! I have lost my patience! I don't have time to deal with a brat who reeks of his mother's milk!" By each sentence, he grew more and more enraged, his voice only getting louder.

At that moment, a small bag that was resting at the side of robe shone with a mysterious light, coincidentally, a black hammer appeared on his hand, Spiritual Power all around it.

"Eat this, brat!" He exclaimed as the Spiritual Power near the hammer grew dark in color. "Dark Blacksmith Army!".

After saying that, he waved the hammer, making illusory dark hammers appear all around him, floating in the air. After reaching ten hammers in number, he waved the hammer in his hand, making all of the hammers fly forward in a dazzling black light towards Issei.

"Dark Blacksmith Strike!"

This time, he was sure that the strikes would hit. Sadly, Issei wasn't about to let that happen.

Always clumsily, he dodged all ten strikes. By that time, the audience no longer laughed. In fact, they had come to the conclusion that either the luck of the child was too strong or the youth was horrible at aiming.

At that, the youth began enraged. He then threw another attack against Issei, only for it to be clumsily dodged, along with the one after that, and then the following one, followed by the one after that… and so on it went for ten minutes. By then, the audience was sure that the youth's aim sucked.

During the time he spent dodge, Issei was gradually changing position, moving around, making the youth also move around. To the audience, it was completely random, but to Issei, each movement was carefully planned.

"Damn..." muttered the youth, panting. After launching a barrage of attacks non-stop for ten minutes, he became exhausted. He could barely keep standing. Issei, on the other hand, wasn't tired at all, since all of the times he dodged, he barely used his own energy, making use of the elements in the area. To the audience, it made it seem like it wasn't on purpose, while to Issei, it lessened his energy spent to a minimum.

Seeing the youth's tired complexion, and the place where he was standing, Issei coldly smirked in his heart. It was time to attack!

"It's my turn!" He exclaimed in timid voice, making the audience feel that he was only putting on false might. He then clumsily ran forward, and activated one of his weakest martial skills.

"Light Punch!" As he said that, light started surging from his fist. It could also be seen that a lot of light was escaping, meaning that the Martial Skill was poorly executed. Seeing that, the audience felt sorry for him.

Light Punch was one of the weakest Martial Skills around, and with so little control over the skill, it probably wouldn't make much damage to a cultivator. Thankfully, the youth facing Issei was dead-tired, and his defenses were low.

"Crap..." muttered the youth as he saw the approaching attack. Although it wouldn't really harm him in normal occasions, the Spiritual Power in his body was almost exhausted, which meant that his defenses were incredibly low. Even if it was such an attack, it could do some damage.

He then hastily took some steps back, not paying attention to his surroundings. On his third step, for some reason, his feet slipped, and he fell to the ground.

Issei also tripped on his clothes at the same time, making him tumble forward at a speed even faster than before, obviously about to all down.

Just as expected, he fell, but who screamed wasn't him.

It just so happened that the moment he lost his balance, he was already at the youth's side, and when he fell, his hand that was with an activated Martial Skill fell down at an unbelievably fast speed, right at the youth's groin area, completely smashing against his precious.

"Argh!" screamed the youth in pain as the Spiritual Power completely ripped through his clothes and solidly hit his precious. At the moment of contact, the pain was so great that he almost lost consciousness. He kept screaming like a hurt animal to no end. Screaming from pain and also sorrow. Because he knew, that from that moment onwards, he would forever not be able to leave a descendant on this world.

At that moment, Issei's face was quite close to his ears. With a devious smirk that only the youth noticed amidst his screams, Issei muttered in a voice that only the two of them could hear, "So, if you lost to a brat like me, who reeks of his mother's milk, what does that makes you?"

The youth's eyes widened even further as he heard what Issei had said, but before he could say anything, Issei increased the Spiritual Power in his fist to an even greater extent, causing the youth precious to almost explode. The youth eyes immediately rolled back as he passed out, the screams finally ending.

As the audience looked at the scene, they felt immense pity for the youth, specially the males. Some of them even went as far as to place their hands in front of their crotches in a protective manner.

"Huh?" said Issei in faked surprise as he looked at the passed out youth laying near him. "I won?"

Immediately, his face was overwritten with joy as he pushed himself up. He then looked at the announcer expectantly.

Being gazed at by Issei's expectant stare, the announcer broke off from his stupor, quickly announcing the victor. "Issei from Azure Tiger City wins!

Immediately after he finished that, a bunch of people entered the stage, picked up the passed out youth and brought him away.

Seeing that there was no more reason to remain on the stage, Issei clumsily climbed down and made his way to where Shinso and Ye Chong were. On the way, all eyes followed him with incredible interest.

After reaching Shinso's side, he looked over to the two purple clothed youths from before. "H-How d-did I d-do?"

"Hmm..." said the black haired one, slightly awkward, seemingly at a lost of words, "Impressive, I guess?" He finally answered. Although it seemed like a half-assed answer, it was the truth. To dodge a barrage of attacks all due to luck, and then to even go as far as to win by crushing your opponent's balls… that was nothing short of impressive.

"Yeah," said the brown haired one, quite absentminded. His hand had also moved dangerously close to his crotch the moment that Issei appeared, seemingly in a defensive manner.

As he looked at their reactions, Issei's outer face remained bashful while he madly laughed in his heart. These guys reactions… they are priceless.

As they chatted, the black haired youth seemed to have just remembered something. Eying Issei curiously, he asked, "Hey, since you were so close, do you know why that guy fell down on that critical moment?"

"I'm sorry, but e-even I-I don't k-know," Issei answered with an honest look, "I was a-also s-surprised."

Obviously, that was a big, fat, lie. The reason why he tripped was because of the paper that Issei had intentionally dropped down when his legs supposedly dropped. During the entire exchange, Issei's movements that seemed random to the audience was all so that he could place the youth in front of the paper, so he could then make him trip during his attack, making it all seem as a stroke of luck. All in all, it could be said that from the moment the battle started, Issei had already won.

The black haired youth, seeing Issei's honest countenance, believed him completely. He also couldn't help but to feel that the kid was truly blessed with heavenly luck! Seriously, that luck is just too much!

"I see..." he said, "Well, either way, just hope that you're as lucky on your next match!" He exclaimed, seemingly in a joke. In his mind, there was obviously no way that he would have such luck twice. Oh, how wrong was he…

In total, there were 32 contestants. After a match, the winner would continue in the competition and the losers would drop out. After that, it would then begin the second round of matches, this time with 16 participants in total. After that, the winners would stay, and battle again. It would keep this way until only one person was left, who would then fight against the contestant from Azure Lightning School. In total, the last person remaining would have fought a total of five matches and the sixth one would be against the Azure Lightning School.

Issei just went and did something that no one believed possible. He won all five matches by luck. Also, all opponents would end up passing out, no exceptions. The audience was flabbergasted. Such luck was simply impossible. Some even thought that he was pretending, but after carefully analyzing Issei, they would always come to the conclusion that there was no way that such a young child would be so good at acting and his schemes would run so deep.

After finishing all of his matches, Issei was once more standing on the stage, facing him was a youth using an azure robe that was decorated with lightnings. He was a young male, around seventeen years old, with an aloof air around him.

"Let's just get this over with," he said in annoyance. It was obvious that he did not put Issei in his eyes. He wouldn't even look at him.

Seeing such an arrogant youth, Issei decided that he would give him a good, tasty beating.

"Hoh~" Issei said, his bashful expression disappearing, replaced by a sharp one. "Don't worry, we'll be over sooner than you think."

At that moment, boundless Spiritual Power surged from Issei's body.

It was time to get serious!

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	10. Tournament (03)

"Hmm?" The arrogant youth in front of him noticed that something was different and finally looked at Issei. When he did, he couldn't help being surprised.

It wasn't only him, the whole audience was surprised.

That was because… Issei, a ten years old child, was actually giving off the Spiritual Power of someone in the third level of the Nascent Profound Realm. Not only that, the Spiritual Power was much purer, denser and in larger quantities that the normal for the third level. In fact, it was comparable to the ninth or tenth level!

"What is happening..." Someone in the audience muttered in a weak voice.

"This aura.."

"This kid..."

The entire audience was flabbergasted.

"Oh?" The arrogant youth finally said. "Seems like you are quite interesting… This battle should be quite entertaining!" As he said that, power from the first level of the True Profound Realm emanated out of him.

"True Profound Realm?" muttered Issei as he analyzed the power coming off the youth. However, before he could analyze it further, he hastily jumped to the side. In the place he had just been, a five meters wide crater appeared, a sword shrouded in lightning in its middle.

"What..." Issei muttered before seeing countless shadows on the ground surrounding the youth. Quickly looking up, he saw over twenty of the same swords as the one on the ground floating in mid-air, dancing around the youth. Behind each one of them, a thin thread of lightning could be seen.

"Fast reflexes..." said the youth, as if analyzing him. He then waved his left arm, making two out of the twenty swords fly out, dashing towards Issei.

"Crap!" Issei muttered as he watched the incoming swords. He already knew that he had lost the element of surprise. _I was too hasty,_ he cursed in his heart.

Thankfully, Issei wasn't one to dally around in his mistakes. He would simply learn from it and get over it.

Clearing his mind, calming his heart and stabilizing his breathing, Issei focused on the two swords in front of him. It was as if the terrain, the audience and the youth had ceased to exist.

In the entire world, only he and the two swords existed. Nothing more, nothing less.

Under this concentrated state that most experts could only hope to achieve, Issei carefully observed the incoming swords. Behind them, lighting burst, giving off a loud noise.

Just when the swords were about to reach him, Issei's eyes narrowed as he jumped up, making the two swords go past him.

But it was also at that moment that the two swords changed directions, charging towards him again.

"Tracking ability!" Issei cursed under his breath as he once more dodged the two swords. While he dodged, a pouch near his waist shone with a bright luster as two swords appeared on his hands.

"Since they won't stop until I'm hit… I'll just break them!" As he said that, he adjusted his stance. He was preparing to use Shinso's personal double swords style, which was not a Martial Skill, but a simple art.

As the two swords flew towards him again, their noise even louder as they cut through the wind, lighting flowing about, Issei calmed his breath. He concentrated his mind on the two swords in his hands.

Soon, they no longer felt like swords, but as an extension of his arms. He now had complete control over them!

As the two lighting-clad swords neared, his eyes flashed with a mysterious light. Instantly, he lifted both swords up, pointing them at the incoming blades.

As the four swords were about to clash, Issei's swords spun, and instead of taking the attack head on, Issei targeted the sides of both sword, consequently changing their trajectory. What faced them in their new path was… their kindred sword.

Since the distance between was too short, they didn't have time to change directions again as they clashed into each other, the lightning in them instantly transferring to one another in successive and deadly bursts.

Because the power was the same only was one result awaited both sword… double elimination! Just as expected, cracks simultaneously appeared on both swords before they exploded, sending lighting everywhere.

As the lighting approached him, Issei immediately threw both of his swords in the air, attracting the lighting to them because of them being made of metal, making not even a slight strand of lighting reach him.

The lightning instantly destroyed both swords.

From the moment that the youth had sent both swords towards Issei to the current moment, only five seconds had passed. In five seconds, four swords were destroyed.

Most of the people in the audience couldn't keep up with such quick happenings, but the elders of high cultivation thoroughly saw what happened. Their eyes shone with disbelief.

Issei had just displayed quick thinking of a veteran cultivators well versed in the arts of war while being only ten years old. At that moment, they understood that Issei wasn't a genius because of his strange and high cultivation, he was a genius because of his sharp mind!

They instantly swore in their hearts that they would do their utmost to recruit such a child with boundless future achievements!

While all that happened, Issei had already begun counter-attacking. He didn't have time nor reason to gloat because of such a small feat. He would have enough time for that once the battle was won.

As he ran to the youth, the pouch at his waist shone with light as two more swords appeared on Issei's hand. Immediately after, he employed the rank 2 Martial Skill, Feather Steps.

Instantly, his speed increased greatly. At the moment, he was only a few feet away from his enemy.

The youth was also not simple. Although two of his swords were destroyed, his eyes never left Issei. When they were about to clash, three of the swords behind him flew out, bustling with energy as they approached Issei.

* cang *

The three swords clashed on his own swords, causing an ear-piercing noise of steel collision to spread in the air. The strong impact made Issei take some steps back.

As he looked at the swords in his hand, they were filled with cracks while the three lighting swords were meticulously clean. Immediately, he waved his hands, throwing his two swords at the ground, two more swords appearing on his hands.

"This is on!" He exclaimed as dashed towards the three swords, striking at the weak points that he saw with his trained eyes. After training with Shinso for countless hours each day, finding weak points in his enemy and weapons was like second nature to him.

* cang * * cang*

Countless ear-piercing noises filled the air as five swords clashed. With each clash, Issei would throw his now cracked swords at the ground, immediately bringing out new ones that looked the same as before. After various clashes, Issei was surrounded by cracked swords.

Issei, himself, was not quite well-off either. With each clash, lighting would slightly enter his body, numbing him a little. Although he could forcefully ignore the numbing effect, he knew that it would be painful for him after the battle ended.

Sadly, Issei only thought about the battle at hand. No matter what it took, he would win it!

By constantly targeting the swords weak points, all three of them were on the verge of collapse.

* Cang *

One more ear-piercing noise resounded through the air as all three swords shattered. Issei immediately threw the now cracked swords at the ground, bringing out new ones. This time, however, they looked different. Strange marking could be seen on them.

The youth, now only with fifteen words remaining, couldn't help but to wonder how many swords that Issei actually had. On the ground, there were already more than two hundred cracked swords!

But, his worries only amounted to that. He wasn't worried at all about losing the battle. To him, Issei would never be able to win.

"Hmph!" huffed the youth in annoyance as he flicked his fingers, causing five swords of the remaining fifteen swords fly out towards Issei.

As Issei saw the approaching swords, he hiddenly smiled. He was waiting for an opportunity to take out so many in one go!

He then screamed as he threw the two swords on his hands forward. When they were about to reach the five swords, Issei screamed!

"Explosion Seal!"

Immediately, the markings on them shone with a bright light as they exploded, taking out the five lightning-clad swords.

Seeing five of his swords being destroyed, the youth's expression didn't change in the slightest. "So what if you have two swords capable of self destruction? I doubt that you have more anyways," He muttered as he waved both of his hands forward, causing all of the ten swords to fly towards Issei.

Issei immediately took out two normal looking blades, this time the same as the two hundred ones at the floor. When the ten swords were about to reach, a cruel smile appeared on Issei's face.

"The game's over!" He exclaimed as he threw the two swords forward, immediately running as far away as he could.

The youth, started by his action, didn't understand anything as he watched the running Issei.

"Could it be that he has given up?" He asked himself with a smile on his face. However, that smile quickly disappeared as he saw what the running Issei was doing.

"Explosion Seal!" Issei screamed. Instantly, on the two swords that were about to clash with the ten lighting swords, strange markings appeared, just like the ones before.

If that was all, it would be fine. The problem was that on all the over two hundred swords littering the ground, the same markings appeared, shining with a dazzling bright.

The youth's face, now bathed in the lights coming from hundreds of swords, completely fell. He now understood why Issei had run so far away!

However, he did not not have time to run, since the explosion was only a few milliseconds from happening.

"Dammit!" Cursed the youth as he immediately brought out all of the defensive talismans, treasures and items on his bag. He also employed all the defense techniques he knew.

Just as he finished preparing, the explosion came.

A loud noise, much louder that the clashes of swords, reverberated throughout the entire city.

Shinso, who had already known Issei's plan from the start, had placed a spirit formation barrier surrounding the stage beforehand. Even so, while still being protected by a spirit formation barrier, something that only World Spiritists could pull off, something considered quasi-unbreakable by many, the surrounding buildings shook.

The deafening sound and the tremor caused everyone to widen their eyes in fright. Only after seeing that the true power of the explosion could not reach them, did they sigh in relief.

As all of that happened, on the stage that once was a beautiful structure crafted from polished jade, now a wasteland of debris and dirt, only two figures remained. One standing, one laying on the ground.

The standing one, Issei, was barely wearing clothes. The explosion had almost completely destroying his clothes, leaving only some clothes that covered only his south areas. His chest, that was usually full of scars, was severely burned. Making people unable to see the endless number of scars underneath.

His face was ashen, but filled with determination. At the last moment, he pulled out a defense talisman that Shinso had given him. It protected him, although he lost the upper part of his robe, and was severely burned. Thankfully, they were on the level that Shinso could easily heal, meaning that it wouldn't leave behind any hints of ever being burned.

As Issei stood there, his face flashed with pain, but he quickly subsided it. Although he was in immense pain, he had a task to accomplish.

He had to win!

As he slowly tread forward, the audience followed him with their eyes, their breaths held back. With each step, the pain would grow more and more unbearable, but his task still wasn't finished.

He continued forward, ignoring everything.

His entire future depended on the result of this battle!

After a couple of steps, he was now standing in front of the body of the Lightning School's youth.

The youth was barely conscious. Although he had used countless treasures and Martial Skills at the last moment to protect himself, he was severely hurt. His Spiritual Power was depleted, not even a hint of energy left in his body.

As Issei approached him, he sighed. He knew that he had lost. He acknowledged that. Although his opponent was weaker than him, Issei was clearly more experienced, on a level that he couldn't even hope to match.

Although the youth had a haughty and lofty attitude, he wasn't a narrow-minded person. He was the kind of person who respected the strong and smart. He felt no anger at Issei for hurting him like this. In fact, he felt respect for him. To overcome the difference of an entire realm and win a battle, that was unheard off.

As they looked at each other, their gazes met. At that moment, the youth sighed.

"Brother, I truly admire you," He muttered, his eyes clear. "I hope we can be friends in the future," what he said were words that came from his heart. Seeing such deep strategies, reflexes and talents, he truly wanted to befriend him.

It was as if his personality had completely changed. He no longer viewed Issei as a weak and naive brat, but as a person equal to him.

He then moved his head with much effort towards the announcer. "I forfeit," He said, spending his final reserves of energy and passing out.

Hearing the youth's words, a joyous expression flashed across Issei's face. He also felt respect fro the youth, and didn't want to hurt him any further. The kind of respect between them… was only something that two people who had truly battled could understand.

"Issei from Azure Tiger City wins the last match and becomes the champion of the tournament!"

At that moment, it was as if all adrenaline had left his body. The pain, the numbness, the tiredness, all came back, rushing like a tidal wave!

Sending Shinso a smirk, his eyes closed and his consciousness faded away, falling down to the ground, a couple of feet away from the youth's body.

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	11. In The Middle Of The Forest

After the tournament, all schools sent invitations to Issei, all saying that he would immediately become an inner disciple. Not only that, even the more powerful school, the Azure Lightning School sent an invitation, saying that he would immediately become a core-disciple. The reason for that bonus was because of the youth that Issei had defeated.

Obviously, Shinso ignored all of them. If Issei was a normal cultivator, he would without a doubt choose the Azure Lightning School, but Issei was in a rather precarious situation at the moment. He could only improve by refining Spiritual Medicine, and the only school that could give him absurd amounts of it was the Heavenly Might School.

After respectfully declining all other invitations, Shinso accepted the Heavenly Might School invitation, thus making Issei an inner disciple.

After that, they stayed there for a few more days for some other events. After it was time, Shinso and Issei said their goodbyes, and Issei departed with the represantants from Heavenly Might in their carriage. Since coming here, Issei's baggage was already stored in his cosmos sack.

Cosmos sacks were a type of inter-spatial storing devices. Although small, inside of them, they would normally have meters and meters of space. Just by thinking, one could immediately take something or put something in their cosmos sack. It was also what Issei had used to store his special blades.

Those special blades were made by Shinso. In each one of them, there would be a type of explosion Spirit Formation that could ignite on it's casters whim.

Spirit Formation was a type of ability that did not make use of Spiritual Power. Instead, it made use of another thing called Spirit Power.

Although everyone in the world was born with Spiritual Power, people born with Spirit Power were few within few. It was something that could only be acquired by luck the moment they are born. Some people have it, some people don't.

If a number was to be given, it would be that one out of twenty thousand people is born with Spirit Power.

Spirit Power has two main uses. The first use is detection. People with Spirit Power would be able to feel the Spiritual Power in their surroundings. As such, they could easily tell when an opponent was about to attack or if there was one hiding.

There were only three ways to be able to bypass the detection of Spirit Power. The first one was to have Spirit Power superior to the other, which meant that the detection of Spirit Power could only detect beings with Spirit Power lower or equal to theirs.

The second way would be some profound Martial Skills that could somehow mask its caster presence. Martial Skills on that level would normally be rank 8 Martial Skills, something that was considered a legend in the entire Profound Sky Continent, with the excpetion of the Divine Phoenix Country. They have even stronger Martial Skills.

The third and final way would be to have an unfathomably deep realm of cultivation, at least four entire realms above the caster.

The second use of Spirit Power would be to power Spirit Formation Techniques. Spirit Formations were, in a few words, a barrier made out of Spirit Power. Depending on the amount of mastery of Spirit Power that a person possess, they could make the barrier acquire various shapes, fly in the air, create a beast made out of Spirit Formation, make explosion Spirit Formations...

In short, as long as you have imagination, you can virtually do anything with Spirit Formation, except creating things such as the five elements, fire, water, wood, metal, earth, and creating living beings.

Spirit Power was also divided in ranks. To determine the rank of a Spirit Formation, all that was needed to be done would be to observe the color of the Spirit Formation.

The weakest one would be white, followed by gray, blue, purple and gold. World Spiritists were also divided in ranks according to their the color of their Spirit Formation.

For example, people who could bring out white colored spirit formation would be a White-cloak World Spiritist.

People who could use gray colored Spirit Formation would be Gray-cloak World Spiritists, and so on...

In the Profound Sky Continent, Blue-cloak World Spiritist were considered the top World Spiritists. Never before had there been a Purple-cloak World Spiritist in the continent, not to talk about Gold-cloak World Spiritists.

Issei had learn all of that in his second year on the Middle Realm. After training for a while, Shinso had tried to see if he had Spirit Power, but sadly, the test result was negative.

Issei, sadly, wasn't one of that lucky people who were born with Spirit Power. Shinso, on the other hand, was a Blue-cloak World Spiritist, and for him to bulk-made such weapons was extremely easy for him.

In fact, the two hundred swords that Issei had exploded was only a little compared to what he had left in his Cosmos Sack. He had over two thousand of those. The only reason why he had only used two hundred was because Issei had never killed before, and didn't feel like doing it anytime soon.

Anyways, Issei was currently headed towards the Heavenly Might academy in a carriage. By his side was a grim-faced youth.

That was one of the contestants that Issei had battled with before fighting with the youth of of the Azure Lightning School, Zhou Chao. He had learned that after talking with him a little after both were healed.

Although Chao had seemed arrogant before, he was actually a really kind and gentleman-like person. Apparently, his arrogant attitude before was only used to put on airs.

When he had heard that Issei had declined the Azure Lighting School's invitation, he was down-cast, but understood that Issei probably had his own reasons. He also said that if Issei wanted, he would always be welcome in the school.

Either way, the reason why the youth by Issei's side was with such a grim countenance was because not only had he lost to Issei, he had also been played around with the entire match. To be fooled by a ten years old kid that hadn't even reached puberty yet... That was beyond humiliation!

To him, who was almost always treated with utmost respect, that was an offense worthy of death!

During the travel in the carriage, he secretly swore in his heart that he would make sure to pay Issei back once they arrived. After all, although being the weakest core-disciple of the entire school, who was in fact, weaker than some of the strongest inner disciples, his father was a respected elder at the school and he had powerful connections.

More specifically, he was close friends with two of the schools strongest core-disciples. As he thought of that, a cold smirk flashed on his face. Issei's misery was, undoubtedly, his happiness.

After a couple of more hours, they finally arrived at the school. Throughout the entire way, neither of them spoke, both lost in thoughts. Issei thinking about how to become the school's number one core-disciple and the other about his plan of making Issei suffer.

The moment they arrived, the elders went ahead, telling the youth, that Issei just discovered that was named Jiao Lei, to show Issei around.

At that moment, it was as if both of them had switched faces. Issei's excited face became grim and the youth's grim face became excited.

During the entire travel, it was obvious to Issei that Jiao Lei had ill-though towards him, if the evil smile that unknowingly plastered his face and the dark giggles that would occasionally come out during the travel were any indication.

As soon as the elders left, the youth's face sported a malicious smirk as he looked at Issei, the same look a predator would show to its prey.

"Hmm..." Issei begun slowly, trying to calm down the situation, back to his innocent facade, "Senior Brother, could you please lead the way?"

Hearing his words, the dark smirk in the Jiao Lei's mouth grew even wider as he said, "Oh yes, I'll lead the way..." he began, before his face turned sinister, "To hell!"

Immediately, Issei's vision became black as a pressuring Spiritual Power that came from behind him crashed against his, at least in the fifth level of the True Profound realm, making him completely powerless.

Before he could even react, his body was enveloped by a bag and he was knocked unconscious.

* * *

Five hours later, Issei finally came to his senses. Although expected, he had never thought that Jiao Lei would make a move against him the moment that the elders left.

"Damn," said Issei, "During the travel here, he must have somehow contacted some of his friends to take care of me."

At that moment, Issei could only blame his foolishness. If he had been more prepared, he wouldn't have been ambushed so easily.

Sighing in his heart, he made a mental reminder to never let his guard down against in his life. From that moment on, Issei would always keep on watch for surprises.

"Well, that only applies if I find my way back," said Issei as he looked around. No signs of the huge Heavenly Might School could be seen.

No matter where he looked, he would only see tall, wide trees with verdant green foliage and lush grass. He was in a forest of sorts, and by the looks of it, quite deep within it.

If that was all, it wouldn't be too much of a problem to search around, but it just so happened that it was night. Furthermore, he could hear the roar of countless beasts in the distance. It seemed like this place was the habitat of some Profound Beasts.

Because of the high-density of Spiritual Power in the air, beasts that possessed stronger, faster, larger and special bodies appeared. Those beasts were called Profound Beasts.

There were all kinds of Profound Beasts, such as giant serpents, dire wolves, huge turtles... there were endless species.

Normally, Profound Beasts would receive the same ranking as cultivators, but it was common knowledge that Profound Beasts would normally be twice to thrice stronger than human cultivators who possessed the same level of cultivation.

Because of that, they were regarded as extremely dangerous.

Hearing the howls of such beasts, Issei couldn't help but to shiver a little.

He had no food left, was standing alone in the middle of a forest full of Profound beasts, it was night, and worst of all, he didn't even have the slightest clue to the way back.

Thankfully, it seemed like Jiao Lei and his friends were kind enough to not steal his Cosmos Sack. Because of that, even if he was attacked by powerful Profound Beasts, he could still defend himself with his remaining one thousand and eight hundred swords with an explosion Spirit Formation.

After looking at his surroundings for a while, Issei didn't even find the slightest trace of tracks that could have been unknowingly left behind by his 'seniors'.

Seeing that there was no use in trying to figure out the logical way out of this situation, Issei decided to move in the only direction that he had ever moved in ever since coming to the Middle Realm – Forward.

Steeling his nerves, Issei walked forward, delving deeper into the forest. Soon after, it began to rain.

Now soaked, lost and hungry, Issei continued moving forward.

At the start, he had only moved forward because of instinct, but after advancing for a couple of minutes, he started to feel a mysterious pull in his mind.

It was as if someone, no, _something_ , was calling out to him. At first, it was faint, but the more he advanced, the clearer it got.

By the time it started raining, the feeling was extremely clear. Issei was sure that there was something in this forest, something mystical and mysterious. Something that was calling out to him!

After two hour of constant walking, the feeling was by now overwhelming all his senses. He could barely hear his own thoughts.

In front of him, a cave could be seen.

Without even a glimpse of hesitation, Issei entered the cave, because he knew that whatever that was calling out to him was in there.

And, after walking a couple more meter into the cave, he finally saw it. It was...

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	12. The Almighty Sky Poison Pearl!

**Because of a certain review, I felt that I should say this.**

 **Yes, a lot of the chapters until now had been mostly information, but there is a reason for that. In order for me to fully utilize the elements of this story to it's maximum extent, I need the readers to have a deep understanding of the Middle Realm.**

 **Thankfully, I have already conveyed most of the information. Aside from this chapter, the following ones will most likely not have such large amounts of information.**

 **As to why I didn't place all the information in once chapter, it was because my beta-reader, who is currently on a break, by the way, said to me that I shouldn't simply drill all the information in one go.** **He said that I should constantly switch between plot and information in order not to tire the readers.**

 **Either way, that's about it. On to the chapter!**

* * *

Floating mid-air in front of Issei, a bright, white, round object could be seen. It was roughly the size of an apple, and around it, a green fog existed.

The moment he saw the strange pearl-like object, the feeling in his mind increased a hundred-fold. He was no longer in control of his own body as he stepped forward, approaching the object.

After getting five-meters away from it, he could sense a faint smell of Spiritual Medicine. Nonetheless, he continued forward.

After standing in front of him, his hand reached out and grabbed it.

Instantly, he had a feeling that he should swallow it.

Normally, Issei would never swallow a foreigner object, but his body wasn't in his control. He could only helplessly watch as he placed the object in him mouth and swallowed it entirely.

The moment it fell down his throat, an intense pain flared up inside him. He could feel as the object literally fused with his body.

The pearl-like object lost it's shape, becoming a mist inside his body that was absorbed by his bones, bone-marrow, skin, organs, blood... It completely assimilated into his body.

He had truly become one and only with that strange, shining object.

Once the fusion was done, the pain gradually decreased.

Panting, Issei sat down on the ground. He could already control his body, and the first thing he did was to see if it had made any changes in him.

The first thing he noticed was that he was now in the fifth level of the Nascent Profound Realm!

"Fifth?" asked Issei in disbelief as he checked himself again, the result being the same.

"Finally!" He screamed in joy. He never would have thought that swallowing such a small pearl could cause his cultivation to increase by two levels!

But, the perks that it had brought him didn't end there. Just after checking his cultivation, a voice appeared in his mind.

"Sky Poison Peal," The voice began in a wizened tone, "Ranked fifth in the seven Heavenly Profound Treasures; limitless inner space, can counteract all poisons, refine all ingredients, ultimate plant harvest, treasure finding, innate poison concocting."

Sky Poison Pearl? Heavenly Profound Treasures? What the hell?

Before Issei could voice his doubts, the voice continued.

"After assimilation, the Sky Poison Pearl and the owner becomes one. They can never be separated, nor can their bond be broken."

"Abilities explanation: Limitless inner space – The Sky Poison Pearl possesses a limitless inner world capable of storing any kind of entities, be it living or not. Will preserve the state of the objects inside it; Medicine will never expire and corpses will never rot.

Counteract all poisons- No poison shall be able to inflict harm in the Sky Poison Pearl's owner. Completely immune to all poisons and disease. Right upon entering the owner's body, poison and disease are exterminated.

Refine all ingredients – Owner able to refine any and all kinds of medicines in seconds. Requirements; Possessing all raw materials, knowing how to refine it normally, complete knowledge in the finished product and refinement materials. Effects: Instant refinement, finished product with one hundred percent purity.

Ultimate plant harvest – Owner able to collect any and all types of plants, medicines and objects without damaging them. Instant and fast collection without worry of detrimental effects to target.

Treasure Finding – When near rare and/or powerful medicines, plants and objects, the Sky Poison Pearl mark shall shine. The brighter the shine, the rarer the object.

Innate poison concocting – The Sky Poison Pearl is able to concoct any type of poison, not needing any raw materials. Requirements: Complete knowledge on how to concoct the poison, Complete knowledge in poison's abilities, Poison only works in beings who are at most three realms above the owner, or else they are ineffective.

Warnings: Innate poison concocting has a limit to how much poison the Pearl is able to expel daily. If limit is trespassed, Pearl forever loses the innate poison concocting ability."

When the explanation was finished, Issei was heavy breathing. To actually find such an object by chance.. what kind of luck did he have?!

"Impossible..." Issei muttered as he recalled the pearl's function again and again. He couldn't believe his luck!

"Well," Issei said once he had regained his composure, "It's time to try it out."

He then decided to try out one of the abilities, the limitless inner space. According to the voice, all he had to do was to think of it and he would be teleported there.

Deciding to place his faith in the voice, Issei imagined entering the inner space. Immediately, in the center of his left palm, a small drawing of the Sky Poison Pearl appeared and flashed with a faint, green, light.

Soon after, a slight dizziness came over him and he unconsciously closed his eyes. When he opened them, his entire world was flooded in green.

This world of green was wide and open. There were no boundaries to be seen and there was a faint scent of the Sky Poison Pearl throughout this space. Immediately after entering, Issei understood that he had entered the world inside the Sky Poison Pearl.

"It truly is limitless..." murmured Issei as he cast his gaze at the horizon. The world truly had no boundaries. The entire place was plane, without even a hill, and was completely covered in lush, green, grass.

After looking at it for a bit, he decided to test the method of leaving it.

Issei closed his eyes and concentrated his thoughts. Suddenly, the world of green hastily dissipated, and when he opened his eyes again, what appeared before him was the dark and desolate cave

Staring at the faint green mark on his left palm, a smile flashed across Issei's face.

Even though he did not know why this ridiculous event of finding such a strange pearl by chance occurred, he couldn't be happier.

"Wait..." Issei then remembered something. The voice had said that this pearl that belonged to him was ranked fifth out of seven of the Heavenly Profound Treasures.

As he thought that far, he couldn't help wondering what this Heavenly Profound Treasures were and what could possibly be more amazing than such a pearl.

Since he had no way to find anything out, Issei decided to explore the world of Sky Poison Pearl again. Who knows? Maybe there was previous owner before him and he had left something there.

He then walked to the nearest wall, sat down and closed his eyes.

The Sky Poison Pearl mark on his left hand's palm flashed again, and he was once more in the boundless green world.

After looking around a little, the only thing that Issei found was a worn out map.

After analyzing the map, Issei found out that there was some similarities between the forest he had just been in and the forest on the map. Also, the cave he was in was also shown.

Seeing that, Issei smiled. He had found his way back!

Sadly, the map was a little out-dated. Apparently, it was from before that the Heavenly Might School was built, which means that it didn't show the school's building, but Issei was able to roughly figure out where it was, given some physical land marks that were shown in the map that he had seen on the way to the school.

After looking through it, Issei figured that the map was, at the bare minimum, ten thousand years old. He figured that out because the age of the Heavenly Might School was nine thousand and nine hundred years old.

Also, on the map, there was a blood-spot that looked to have fallen just a few days ago. It was on top of one of the mountains that were on the mountain range just beside the Heavenly Might School.

He immediately figured that the owner of the map ha been bleeding when he last opened it, causing the blood drop to randomly fall on top of the map.

He also knew that the only reason why the map was still intact and that the blood drop looked recent was all because of one of the bonus properties of the limitless space within the Sky Poison Pearl.

It was the one made it so that everything that entered the Sky Poison Pearl's inner world would remain in the exact same condition it had been the moment it entered. It would not rot, not age, not dry.

All in all, it was a perfect storage for Spiritual Medicines.

After taking a mental picture of the map, Issei placed it back in his Sky Poison Pearl and walked out of the cave.

As he looked at the starless sky, a cold smile flashed across his face. He would make sure to pay back Jiao Lei the favor that he had given him!

If it wasn't for his great friend Lei, Issei would never have acquired the Sky Poison Pearl. He would be sure to give him a good, beautiful present back.

"Well, let's just hope that he likes being beaten to the point that his mother can't even recognize him..." said Issei in a sing-song tune as he walked out of the cave and into the forest.

He didn't care whether he had acquired the Sky Poison Pearl thanks to him or not. What mattered was that he had wanted to have Issei killed by beasts, and Issei would be sure to pay back the favor.

Issei wouldn't kill him, since he still couldn't go as far as killing. Although Issei was extremely smart, he was still a ten years old kid. Breaking bones and shattering organs was fine, but killing was still too much. As long as he didn't take any lives, it was fine.

Three hours later, Issei was already standing in front of the School's inner area entrance. On the way, he didn't run into any beasts, so it was a smooth trip.

After managing to enter the school without the guards guarding the entrance finding out. Because of the rank the Rank 2 Martial Skill, Dark Shadow, which allowed him to become completely dark, with the addition of the rank 2 Martial Skill, Feather Steps and finally the rank 2 Martial Skill, Light Sound, Issei was able to pass undetected by them.

Dark Shadow was used to make him undetectable when hiding in shadows, and since it was night, he was practically invisible. Feather Steps increased his speed, so he used it to make him walk faster. Light Sound made his steps and breathing soundless.

With all of that, entering the school without anyone noticing was rather easy. Also, the fact that the guards were sleepy helped. He knew that if they were concentrated on their task, Issei would never have been able to pass by them undetected, since both of them were at the peak of the True Profound Realm.

After entering the school, Issei started searching for a map of sorts that showed the places in the school.

Heavenly Might School, although not having a lot of prestige, not having a lot of power, was the school with the biggest area in the entire Azure Province. It was said that it was family inheritance of the first owner of the school.

Because of that, it took Issei well over one hour before he finally found a stone mural that showed a map of the school.

Issei's destination was the dormitory. After looking at the map and taking a mental picture, Issei walked around some more and after twenty more minutes, he found the dormitory.

Walking inside through a widow, he entered it, still using all of his three Martial Skills. Because of his immense amounts of Spiritual Energy, comparable to those of the True Profound Realm, Issei could still keep using the skills.

After searching around for a bit, he finally found a bed that wasn't occupied. Putting on new clothes and storing his wet ones away, Issei climbed onto the bed and was quick to enter the realm of sleep.

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	13. Senior Brother Ji

**Guys, the poll will end on Sunday afternoon, so if you still haven't voted, I suggest that you vote as soon as possible!**

* * *

The first thing that Issei saw upon waking up was a face gazing upon him. It seemed to belong to fourteen or sixteen years old, with rather plain features.

"Hmm... Hello?" Issei said as timidly as he looked at the youth in front of him, slightly wary.

"Ah, sorry," The youth then said, noticing that Issei had woken up, "You must be Issei. My name is Sa Ji."

"Sa Ji?" Issei repeated his name, testing how it felt to say it, "So, Senior Ji, how come you know my name?" asked Issei, still rather bashfully, but not stuttering. He decided that although he would pretended to be an innocent and foolish kid, he wouldn't stutter so much.

When he heard Issei's question, a strange expression appeared on Senior Ji's face, "How I know your name?" He repeated, rather incredulously, "How could I not know?!" He finally exclaimed.

"Huh?" Issei said, slightly taken aback by his exclamation.

"Everyone in the entire school knows about the eleven years old kid how won the Azure Province's Azure Cloud City tournament! The kid who beat even the Azure Lightning School's youth!"

"Oh..." Issei said, rather surprised. Never would he have thought that news would travel so fast.

"Either way, you truly are as girly as the rumor says. When I first saw you, I mistook your for a little girl!" He exclaimed, this time laughing lightly.

"I see..." Issei muttered, slightly annoyed. Although he at first didn't really mind being mistaken for a girl, it was slowly beginning to annoy him. Seriously, it happened way too often!

Also, wasn't this fellow a little to friendly? They had only just met, but he treated Issei like an old friend.

"Oh yeah, how come I didn't see you entering the dorm yesterday?" Sa Ji finally the question that had been plaguing his mind.

"Ah, that's because I met up with some seniors before, and only after talking with them did I come back to the dorm," Issei quickly lied. It must be said that Issei was incredibly adept in the art of lying. He could make up lies in a second, and his acting skills were top-notch.

"Oh, so that's the reason," He begun, before he stopped mid-way as he seemed to have remembered something of utmost importance. His gaze then locked dead on Issei, "Hey, would you like me to show you around the school?"

"Huh?"

"It's because this will be your first actual day, so you probably don't know how things work here. How about I show you around and get you a weapon and some skills?"

"Oh? Then I must trouble senior."

"Great! Dress up quickly, I'll be waiting for you outside," Sa Ji turned around and walked away.

Deciding to not waste this great opportunity, Issei quickly put on the robe that one of the elders had handed him in the carriage.

After putting on his robe, he hurried to the door, meeting with the kind Sa Ji. Issei was specially excited. He had thought that he would have to spend quite some time searching around the school for necessities, but it seemed that the heaven's were kind and granted him a guide!

"Okay, first, we'll got the Mighty Weapon Pavilion!" Sa Ji said as he started walking in a particular direction.

Issei was hot on his heels as he asked, "Mighty Weapon Pavilion?"

"Yes, Mighty Weapon Pavilion," Sa Ji began, "The Mighty Weapon Pavilion is where inner disciples pick their weapons. There are a variety of weapons there.

As you know, weapons are graded just like cultivation is graded. In the pavilion, there are a bunch of Nascent Profound Realm grade equipment."

"Ah, I see. Is there also weapon pavilions for the outer disciples and core disciples?"

"Only for core disciples. Outer disciples are tasked with odd jobs and various cleaning duties, so they don't really have needs for weapons. As for core disciples, they have their own weapon pavilion called the Heavenly Weapon Pavilion. Apparently, there are even weapons of the True Profound Realm grade there!"

"Ah..."

As they continued walking, Sa Ji explained more and more about the school. After walking for twenty or so minutes, they finally reached the Mighty Weapon Pavilion.

"This is it," Sa Ji pointed at tall building. It must be said that the Heavenly Might School was certainly extravagant. The Mighty Weapon Pavilion was luxuriously decorated, with two big golden lions statues on each side of the door.

"Shall we go in?" He asked as he analyzed Issei's reactions.

Nodding, Issei walked forward and into the building. Seeing that Issei was already entering, Sa Ji hurried his steps and entered along with him.

Inside the weapon pavilion, countless racks of weapons could be seen. There was indeed a wide range of weapons, with scimitars, great swords, swords, sabers, short swords, daggers, bows, axes, spears and halberds.

Gazing upon such a wide and extensive variety of weapons, Issei couldn't help but to sigh in admiration. Heavenly Might School was definitely wealthy.

"Hey, Junior Brother," Sa Ji called out, bringing Issei back to reality.

"What, Senior Brother?"

"Do you have any weapon you're adept in?"

"Adept?" Issei repeated, as if in deep thought.

In reality, he had basic knowledge on daggers, swords, bows and double swords, but if he were to say the one he was most familiar with, it would be double swords. After all, Shinso's personal style was also dual wielding, as such, Issei trained that one the most.

"I would say dual wielding swords?" Issei said, seemingly unsure.

"Dual wielding?" Sa Ji muttered before he entered a stage of deep thought. After staying like that for a couple of moments, enlightenment filled his eyes as he stared at Issei.

"Well, the school allows each student to choose two weapons, in case the first one breaks during battle and you need to quickly replace it, so you can choose two swords," He finally said.

He then moved to one of the racks and grabbed a sword, handing it to Issei.

"I suggest this one and..."

He then walked to another rack, grabbed another sword and handed it to him.

"This one."

Looking at the two swords on his hand, Issei was slightly surprised.

They were both of the Nascent Profound Rank. Their appearances were also extravagant, with golden markings on both of them.

But, at the same time, he felt that those two just weren't suited for him.

"Umm, Senior Brother, would you mind if I searched some more?" Issei placed the two extravagant swords on a table and looked at Sa Ji.

"Ah, sure, no hurry," Sa Ji replied nonchalantly. He also felt that it would be better for him to pick his own weapon, although he was quite sure that he would just give up and pick those two swords that he had brought in the end.

Issei then moved over to the closest rack, quickly glanced at it and passed to the second. Sa Ji was looking at Issei attentively, ready to explain any question he might have.

After looking at over seven different racks, Issei still hadn't found anything that gave him the feeling that it should belong to him.

Just as he was about to give up and just go with the two Nascent Profound Realm ranked swords, he saw something within his peripheral vision.

On a far corner of the room, in a badly lit area, there were two swords on the wall. Because of the illumination, most people wouldn't even notice them, but for some reason, Issei was greatly attracted to them.

Walking over to the wall, Issei picked up the two swords. One of them had a pitch black blade, with an equally black hilt, while the other was the complete opposite; it's blade was of the purest white, with an also white hilt.

As he analyzed the two swords, he could feel that this two swords were simply perfect for him. He couldn't explain the feeling, he just felt it! It was an instict!

Also, both swords didn't lose in terms of quality at all compared to Sa Ji's choice, both being of the Nascent Profound Realm rank.

"This swords..." Sa Ji muttered, as he too was looking at the swords that Issei held in his hands. His expression was one of surprise.

"What about them?" Issei turned around to look at Sa Ji.

"It's just that I had never seen them before..." He muttered, looking lost in thought.

"Oh?" Issei's mouth formed an 'o' as he looked at the sword, "Well, that isn't a problem. I can stay with them, right?"

"Oh, absolutely," was Sa Ji's quick reply.

"Then that's fine," said Issei as he pretended to place both swords in his cosmos sack, but in reality placing them in Sky Poison Pearl inner world.

"Well, now that you have already chosen a weapon, we should go to the Mighty Skill Pavilion."

"Mighty Skill Pavilion?" Issei said, slightly surprised. Seriously, who the hell thought of these stupid names? Even a five-years-old could think of this. The naming sense was weak with this one.

"Yes, we should get you some Martial Skills so you can cultivate."

"Then I'll have to trouble senior once more to show the way!" exclaimed Issei as he already stepped out of the Mighty Weapon Pavilion and waited for Sa Ji to show the way.

Seeing that Issei had already exited, Sa Ji quickly went to one of the tables of the room and registered that Issei had chosen two swords of the Nascent Profound Realm rank. After that, he followed Issei out and then led him to a large, tower-like building.

It was extremely large, at least twice the size of the Mighty Weapon Pavilion in width and thrice in size. The tower, just like the weapon pavilion was also luxuriously decorated.

Gazing upon such a majestic tower, Issei couldn't help but to sigh in amazement. If the inner disciple's skill pavilion was already this amazing, who knows how amazing would the core disciple's pavilion be?

They then entered the tower, quickly arriving at a huge library-like place. The walls were littered with shelves, all with Martial Skills scrolls. He could see at least one hundred different scrolls, something that amazed him greatly.

"So, Junior Brother Issei, would you like me to suggest some skills for you?"

"If that wouldn't be troubling you..."

"Not at all! It's my pleasure!" Sa Ji exclaimed as he immediately started searching for the Martial Skills that he had on mind. Ever since seeing that Issei had chosen dual swords, he had begun thinking of Martial Skills that involved dual swords techniques.

Since there was a limit of only being able to choose 3 martial skills to cultivate every month, he decided that it would be best for Issei to start with a dual sword Martial Skill, a movement Martial Skills and a defensive Martial Skill. At least, that's what was commonly known as the best strategy.

As Sa Ji begun his search for Issei's Martial Skills, Issei didn't dally around as he also started searching. In reality, he didn't put much faith in his senior brother's judgment. After all, who would know what's best for him rather than Issei himself? Who knew him better than himself?

After searching for a couple of minutes, Issei had only found a hand-full of rank 3 Martial Skills. Most of the Martial Skills in the Pavilion were only rank 2.

Of course, for Issei who didn't possess a single rank 3 Martial Skill, those rank 3 Martial Skills should have been tempting, but Issei had a feeling that there were still better things in store for him.

Since he had found out on the way that he could only choose 3 Martial Skills each month, Issei decided that he would thoroughly looked through all Martial Skills in the are before choosing three of them.

Also, one of the reasons why Issei wasn't really tempted by the rank 3 Martial Skills that he had found was because he knew just by quickly glancing over them that he would take little more than a couple of hours to learn each.

That meant that he could easily learn any three of them in a day with time to spare, meaning that he would then spend an entire month with nothing to do before choosing new skills.

As such, he was determined to get the most difficult skill available, so he would be able to actually profit from this month of training.

Thankfully, it didn't take Issei long for him to reach the end of the Mighty Skill Pavilion. The moment he reached the end, what appeared in front of him made his eyes widen considerably and his heart beat faster.

The reason for such drastic changes in Issei, who was normally extremely stable, was because in front of him was a shelf with only three scrolls in it. Two of them were thick and large, while one was relatively thin.

But, those scrolls weren't what had caught his attention. What had truly set in motion his change in behavior was the words engraved above the shelf.

 _The Three Most Difficult Martial Skills_

Reading such words, Issei felt like that he was truly blessed. It was as if all that he was searching all along had been handed to him in a silver platter.

He didn't even need to search any more as he grabbed all three of the Martial Skills from the shelf. He didn't even bother opening them and checking their contents. Just from the names and ranks that were written in the name-tag bellow each of them was already enough.

According to the name-tag, the thickest one's name was The Four Ways Of The Lightning, a rank 4 Martial Skill.

The one that was second in terms of thickness name was Heavenly Double Swords Might, also a rank 4 Martial Skill.

The name of the thinnest and also final one was Illusionary Palms, also a rank 4 Martial Skill.

At that moment, he knew that he had all rank 4 Martial Skills in the entire pavilion in his hands.

 **Read and Review~!**


	14. Elder Jun

**Only two things to announce. Martial Skills have been changed to martial skills and Spiritual Power has been changed to spiritual power.**

* * *

"Hey, Junior Brother, I have found the skills!" Sa Ji called out as he walked towards Issei, three scrolls on his arms.

"Ah, Senior..." muttered Issei, preparing to explain that he had already chosen, but was then stopped mid-way by Sa Ji.

"Oh, you have already chosen?" said Sa Ji with disbelief as he noticed the scrolls on Issei's arms. He was about to ask which ones they were, but then stopped as he noticed the shelf behind Issei.

Looking at the engraved words on the top, then at the empty shelf and finally at Issei's arms, Sa Ji's eyes widened.

"What have you done?!" He exclaimed as he dropped all of his scrolls on to the ground and ran to where Issei was.

"Hmm?" Issei asked, not understanding why his Senior Brother had such a reaction. All he did was pick the three most difficult scrolls, what about it?

Upon nearing Issei, Sa Ji immediately snatched his three scrolls and hurried to the shelf, trying to place them on it. Sadly, his efforts were for naught.

As if an invisible barrier had sprung up, Sa Ji couldn't even bring the scrolls near the shelf.

Every time he tried, his hands would meet with an invisible, extremely hard wall, making him unable to even bring them close to their original spots.

After trying a few times, Sa Ji sighed. He then looked back at Issei and said, "Why did you have to pick those three scrolls?"

"Huh? What's the problem?" Issei asked, also having noticed that Sa Ji was unable to place them back. That made him heavily curious.

"You see, the head master of this school placed a spirit formation onto this shelf. Once one of this scrolls is taken out, they can only be placed back after a month. That means that the moment that you take one of these scrolls out, you are obliged to choose it," Sa Ji explained with a down-cast appearance.

"Is forced to take them home? Why would the head master do something like that?" Issei asked with evident curiosity. That truly didn't make sense. Why would the head master put such a spirit formation?

Sa Ji sighed once more as grabbed the scrolls that he had dropped on the ground up, placed them back on their respective shelves and then explained, "Apparently, he wanted to teach the students that they shouldn't bite more than they can chew."

"Huh?"

"It means that he wanted to teach the students to know their limits, and to not try to do learn way above them, such as rank 4 martial skills. The punishment for trying to choose them would be to be forced to bring them home, which also means that they would waste their entire month doing nothing."

"Doing nothing?"

"Yes, doing nothing. Those three rank 4 martial skills are impossibly difficult to learn, much more than even rank 5 martial skills. Even if the head master tried, he probably wouldn't be able to understand anything from them.

"In fact, the number one core disciple, rumored to be a martial genius that only appears once in a thousand years, trued to learn these three skills.

"Three years ago, he grabbed all three scrolls and brought them with him to cultivate in seclusion. Last month, he came back, but to everyone's astonishment, he didn't even begin to comprehend the three skills, even after three full years of non-stop cultivation."

As Sa Ji explained that far, his face was one of sadness. Never would he have thought that Issei would actually try to pick those three scrolls...

That means that Issei just threw a month of cultivation out of the window! Because, there's no way, no matter how much of a genius he is, that he'll be able to understand anything about them in only one month.

The more he thought, the sadder he became. He was given explicit orders to make sure that Issei progresses smoothly in the school and to have him help him in every way possible.

But, on his first day doing his task, he made the blunder of letting Issei choose the three single martial skills that he absolutely shouldn't.

He could only imagine the scolding that _she_ would give him...

While Sa Ji was lost in his sad thoughts, Issei couldn't help but to be even more excited. When he first saw the sign, he was a little worried that it might be a trick, because why the hell would one so obviously announce that those three were the most difficult martial skills?

Even after checking their ranks, he was unsure, but now he was certain. These skills were definitely what he was looking for. Something incredibly difficult, so much that no one in the entire school knows!

That perfectly suited Issei, who was mad cultivation monster with other-worldly martial comprehending skills.

Geniuses that only come once in a thousand years? Those weren't even suited to lick Issei's feet. Try the ones that come only once in a trillion years. Maybe they would be able to lick his feet.

But, for appearance's sake, Issei put on a slightly down-cast expression. As always, his acting skills were above top-notch, so Sa Ji immediately bought it. In fact, he tried to comfort him.

"Well, don't be like that," Sa Ji said, as if he hadn't been sulking miserably a moment ago. "Even if you can't practice any martial skills, you'll still be able to cultivate, right?"

When he heard that, Issei felt like laughing. If he had been truly said about picking those three skills, Sa Ji's reminder of cultivation would only worsen his mood. He, who would need dozens of years before even trying to break-through to the next level if he were to cultivate normally, would be extremely depressed.

"Well, let's just register it for now. We still have more places to go," Sa Ji said as he shot Issei an encouraging smile. His demeanor had truly completely changed.

The reason for such a change was because he thought that if he managed to help Issei, maybe his punishment for committing that hateful blunder would be lighter. As such, he was completely dedicated to helping Issei out and fulfilling his requests.

"Okay," said Issei as he followed Sa Ji to the entrance. When they arrived, Sa Ji walked to the right, leading to an old man sitting in front of a table.

"Oh? Sa Ji?" The old man asked as he recognized the plain looking young man, "You know that there is still five more days until you can get new martial skills, right?"

Sa Ji nodded and then pointed at Issei, "This is Issei, the new kid. I was just helping him pick his martial skill," He explained.

"Issei?" The man asked, trying to recall where he had heard that name before. His eyes then suddenly widened, "You mean the one who won the tournament?"

"Exactly."

"Ah, I see..." He muttered before looking over at Issei, "Come over here, show me the martial skills that you chose so I can register."

"Ah, okay, elder..." Issei moved forward and was preparing to hand him the scrolls,

"Oh, you can call me elder Jun," Elder Jun said as he received the martial skills scrolls.

He was about to open them to check for their names, but stopped as he recognized the three scrolls.

Looking up, he shot Sa Ji an are-you-serious? look.

"It was already too late..." he muttered awkwardly.

Hearing his answer, elder Jun sighed and then looked back at Issei, "I'm sorry that you have such a useless senior..."

"Ah, no, no," Issei quickly said, trying to keep a shy appearance while saying in an earnest tone, "It was my fault! It wasn't senior's fault!"

Upon hearing Issei defending him so earnestly, Sa Ji couldn't help but to grow warm inside. He had never gotten a junior before, and his first one was such a kind one!

Although he first approached Issei because he was ordered to, he now felt that he should really take care of his first junior.

"Oh well," sighed the old man as he wrote some things down on a scroll that was on the table. "I'm sorry, but you'll have to keep this for one month. Just remember to come exactly when one month passes so you can begin actually practicing martial skills."

"Thank you, elder Jun. I will," Issei said politely with a bow as he got his scrolls back from the table and pretended to place them in his cosmos sack, while placing them in the Sky Poison Pearl.

Seeing that the process was already finished, Sa Ji quickly brought Issei out of the building.

"Now, I'll show you where you'll cultivate," Sa Ji said as he started walking.

Nodding, Issei followed after him.

After about ten more minutes of constant walking, Issei was once more facing a tower like building. The only difference was that this time, it was much bigger than the Mighty Skill Pavilion, at least thrice it's size, but at the same time being much less luxurious.

"We're here," Sa Ji said as he pointed to the tower in front of them, "This is the Cultivation Tower. It's full of rooms where inner disciples can cultivate. The spiritual power on the room is also much stronger than on the outside, making it much better for cultivation."

He then looked back at Issei, "Follow me in, I'm gonna arrange for a personal room for you," He said as he walked towards the tower.

"Personal room?" asked Issei as he also walked to the tower.

"Yes, personal room," began Sa Ji, "In this tower, there are two hundred public rooms and only fifty personal rooms," He explained. "Personal rooms belong to only one person, and only the one who has the key to the room can enter it."

Sa Ji then took a stone that was littered with blue, shining, markings and handed it to Issei.

"I just so happen to have an extra room key with me," He explained. "You keep it."

Issei definitely wasn't one to refuse presents. Furthermore, he had long since figured out that Sa Ji had some reason for helping him. To him, no one could be so kind to a stranger.

As such, since he thought that Sa Ji had some other motives, he decided that he would exploit the situation to it's max.

"Thank you, senior brother Ji," Issei said politely as he accepted the room key.

Seeing that Issei had accepted so easily, Sa Ji was surprised for a moment, but then simply smiled. If Issei accepted his gifts, the better it was for him. This way, he could use this as an excuse to get a lighter punishment from _her_.

Also, the key wasn't his anyways. Once more, _she_ gave it to him so he could hand it to Issei.

"Well, let's just get going," Sa Ji said as he walked inside the tower along with Issei.

Upon entering, the first thing that Issei saw was a large, well lit corridor. On both sides, an endless number of doors could be seen.

The floor and the walls were both made from old looking stones. All in all, it didn't seem like this place belonged to the same school as the Mighty Skill Pavilion and the Mighty Weapon Pavilion. Seriously, the disparity in luxurious was simply too deep.

Seeing Issei's expression, Sa Ji chuckled before saying, "Don't be fooled by it's appearance. This Cultivation Tower was a thousand of times more expensive to build then both of the Pavilions.

"Really?"

"Yes. The stone that this tower is made off is extremely resistant, almost unbreakable. Also, it emits spiritual power, making it precocious for cultivation. From this, it can be seen just how expensive this tower was."

Now that Issei heard it, it really felt like the spiritual power in the air was much denser than outside. Sadly, even if it was a million times more concentrated, it still wouldn't help him much. The amount of spiritual power needed to break-through to the sixth level of the Nascent Profound Realm was simply too huge.

They then kept walking until the end of the corridor, climbed a step of spiral stairs, walked to the end of the corridor of the second floor, climbed the stairs and then entered the third and final floor.

"The first two floors only have public cultivation rooms, and the third one only have personal cultivation rooms," He explained.

"Ah..." Issei said with a now-I-get-it expression, although he had pretty much guessed that already.

"Either way, your room is the number 39, follow me," Sa Ji then brought Issei to his room.

Looking at the door, Issei saw that there was nothing particular about it. The only thing that distinguished it from the others was the number 39 etched into the door.

 **Read and Review~!**


	15. Inside Or Outside?

After opening the door using the strange marked stone, both Issei and Sa Ji walked inside.

The first thing that Issei saw was a training dummy. It's pair of feet were glued onto the ground, with six arms and an odd-looking head.

Aside from the dummy, the rest of the room was entirely empty. It was also relatively large, but not too large. It seemed that it would be just enough for him to fight with the dummy freely.

"This is the training dummy," Sa Ji pointed at the dummy, "This is a special object from our school. It's said that the first head master found fifty of those in an expert's tomb. The private rooms all have one each. As for the public rooms, there's just your normal wooden dummy."

He then walked towards the dummy and motioned for Issei to follow. Upon arriving in front of it, Sa Ji crouched down and pointed at the base of the dummy. On it, there was the number one, along with a small lever.

"This is what defines the level of difficulty of the dummy. By pushing the lever, it increases by one level. By pulling it, it decreases.

"In total, there are five levels. On the first level, the dummy will only try to dodge your attacks. On the second, it will have much better dodging abilities. On the third, it will not only dodge, but will also slightly counter-attack. On the fourth, it starts to counter attack with much more strength. On the fifth level, it will automatically attack you if you come close to it."

As Sa Ji said that far, he then looked back at Issei.

"From the level 2 onwards, it will be able to leave it's base, but always after ending a battle, it will retreat to it's original position. On the fifth one, as long as you are six meters away from it, it will attack you until you fall back to seven meters or is heavily injured."

"Such a profound dummy..." muttered Issei in amazement. Such an excellent training device! At that moment, he couldn't help but to admire the first head master's luck for finding such precious training dummies.

"Also, there's another thing," Sa Ji began, "This dummy automatically regenerates after each battle. Even if you were to cut each of it's limb a hundred of times, it would still grow them back."

"Really?!" Issei asked in a loud tone. This time, he was thoroughly surprised. A dummy that can regenerate... just how amazing is that?! If that were to be used as soldiers on a war, Issei would feel sorry for its enemies.

"Yeah," nodded Sa Ji, "At first, I also didn't believe it, but after fighting with it a couple of times and managing to injure it, I saw with my own two eyes as all the wounds were instantly closed."

"Wow... but, are you sure that it can regenerate even its members? Like legs and arms..."

"Absolutely, but you shouldn't worry much about that. Only the ten best core disciple students are able to inflict such a deep wound into the dummy. No one managed to do that before aside from them, even when the dummy is on level one."

After saying until this point, Sa Ji then stopped and looked at Issei, changing the subject, "Hey, enough about the dummy. Right now, you should probably start cultivation. Is there anything you need? Like food..."

"Food?" Issei asked, a little surprised. Why would he bring food into here?

"But of course! When one cultivate, they normally spend one entire week cultivating. As such, they normally bring a large stock of food with them."

"A week?" Issei asked, even more surprised. Didn't the students have classes or something? It's a school, after all.

As Sa Ji looked at Issei's surprised and confused expression, he understood what he was thinking and quickly explained, "We don't have to attend classes. Our only obligation is to cultivate. Aside from that, we are free to do whatever we want. If you have some doubts regarding cultivation, you can always go to one of the elders."

"Ah," Exclaimed Issei as he finally understood how schools that taught martial skills worked. So the student has complete autonomy, huh?

"Well, as I was saying, you should probably spend some time here. Can you estimate how much time? I need to know how much food to bring," Sa Ji said once more, this time in a slight hurry. He had to report back to _her_ soon, but before that he had to make sure that Issei had everything he needed.

"Hmm..." Thought Issei deeply. He was going to say one week, but decided that he would stay exactly one month in there. If the dummy was truly as good as Sa Ji claimed it to be, then Issei would definitely benefit from it!

"One month, I guess," Issei finally said, after some careful thinking.

"One month?" Sa Ji repeated and then nodded his head. "Alright, I'll be back shortly. Is there anything else you want?"

"Ah, no," was what Issei was intending to Issei, but stopped mid-way as he remembered the Sky Poison Pearl. At the moment, one of the things he needed the most was knowledge on medicines, pills and such. Only with having knowledge could he utilize the power of the pill.

"Well, if it's not asking much, I do have one more request," Issei finally said, politeness all over his voice.

"Don't worry, whatever it is, I'll do it," Sa Ji exclaimed confidently. It was proportional, really. The more the things he did for Issei, the slighter his punishment for letting Issei choose those three damned scrolls would be.

Seeing that Sa Ji was that determined, Issei laughed in his hear, "I don't know why you're helping me this much, but I'll definitely make the most out of it," He thought secretly while he said, "Then, I will have to trouble Senior Brother Ji to grab a few books about medicine and pill concocting for me."

"Books about medicine?" said Sa Ji in a puzzled voice.

"Yes, books about medicine. Such as about pills, medicines, poisons, anatomy of the human body... all things related to medicine and a little about pill concocting."

Deeply engraving the subjects named by Issei in his mind, Sa Ji nodded. "Alright, I'll be back in thirty minutes," He said as he hurried out of the door and onto his duties.

Seeing that Sa Ji had left, Issei closed the door and got the three scrolls from the Sky Poison Pearl. He then laid them on the ground in front of him and then looked at them carefully, wondering which one to start with.

At last, he finally decided on starting with Heavenly Double Swords Might martial skills. Picking it up, he opened it and begun reading it.

On it, it explained that the Heavenly Double Swords Might was not a martial skills, but a martial skills set. Martial skills set were martial skills that had two or more martial skills in them, normally divided by levels.

According to the scroll, the Heavenly Double Swords Might had three different levels. The first level was a defense martial skill. Upon mastering it, it would allow one to block attacks from people up to 1 level above the user in cultivation and skills up to the fifth rank.

After mastering the first level, one could learn the second level. It was a counter-attack martial art skill. It was normally used followed by the defense martial skill from the first level. In short, it used the impact of the opponents attack to strike him back with twice the power. The limit of the power of the counter attack was that it couldn't be three time stronger than a normal attack from the user.

Once again, after mastering the second level, the third level would become available. It was an attack martial skill, about five time stronger than the counter-attack martial skill full power, so about fifteen times stronger than a normal attack.

After Issei finished reading it, he was full of smiles. This skill, it really sounded good. Furthermore, it was three skills in one, making it even better.

Issei was about to begin following the instructions of the scroll in order to learn the first level when someone knocked on his door. Now that he thought of it, he truly did spend over twenty minutes reading the scroll, since the author of it liked to pay too much attention to minimal details of the skill.

"Coming!" exclaimed Issei as he rushed to the door and opened it. After opening it, he saw Sa Ji standing there, a cosmos sack in his hand. His face was full of sweat, it was obvious that he had spend the last twenty minutes running though the scroll grounds non-stop.

"I'm finished..." He said, slightly panting. He then looked at Issei's own cosmos sack.

"Transfer the contents of this cosmos sack into yours, please," He said as he handed him the pouch. Accepting it, Issei quickly emptied the cosmos sack, filling his in the process. Sadly, since the time it took was to small, he couldn't really see what the contents were, although he caught the smell of food.

Seeing that Issei had finished, Sa Ji grabbed his cosmos sack back and looked at Issei with a smile, "One month from now, I'm passing by to bring you to the Mighty Skill Pavilion so you can change your skills," He said, "Now, I have to go, so please excuse me, Junior Brother Issei," He turned around and hastily left.

There was a reason for his sudden leave. It was because the meeting time appointed by _her_ was nearing in, and he absolutely couldn't be late. God knows what _she_ would to him if he were to even get one minute past the appointed time...

"Thanks and good bye, Senior Brother Ji," Issei said, but Sa Ji had long since gone past the area where he could still hear Issei.

Now that he was completely alone, Issei walked back into the room and closed the door. Picking up his cosmos sack, he passed his hand over it, making all of the content he had previously acquired to flow out of it.

Soon, in front of him, a pile with about fifteen books appeared. Also, there was a huge sack, full of food that didn't rot with time.

Looking at the huge amount of food, Issei figured that it would be enough for a month, so he placed them back. At the moment, his attention was completely focused on the pile of books.

In reality, he couldn't help but to be surprised. He had expected Sa Ji to bring him a book or two, but not a pile composed of fifteen, thick and long books.

The reason why Sa Ji brought so many books was because he had some connections with the schools infirmary, and he asked for all the books available there.

After looking through the pile, Issei discovered that there were books about poisons, herbs, medicines, pills concoctions, a complete guide of the human body, and many other things.

Looking at that, Issei couldn't help but to become extremely excited. With this, he would be able to use more abilities of the Sky Poison Pearl.

But, he knew that at the moment, the first thing he should do would be to train in his new skills, so he placed the book back and once more focused onto the scroll.

After reading the way of cultivating the first level of the Heavenly Double Swords Might, Issei closed the scroll, stood up and took off both of his swords from the Sky Poison Pearl.

He had the pitch black sword on his right hand and the pure white one on his left.

He then extended his right hand and tried to follow the steps depicted on the scroll. He started to slowly remember each part and go along with the instructions.

 _Focus your spiritual power and make it flow into one of your swords_

Issei then closed his eyes and calmed his mind. Soon, he could feel the flow of spiritual power in his profound veins and dantian. He then willed for some of the power to exit his dantian and then directioned it towards his right hand and into the sword.

Soon, he could feel as it slowly poured into the sword.

 _After channeling the spiritual power, the sword should have some spiritual power flowing outside it. Channel more power until it becomes completely covered._

As he remembered that part, he slowly began to channel more power, but much to his surprise, instead of it covering the sword, he felt it actually entering it!

At first, he thought that he had made a mistake, but after thinking carefully about it, it was possible that the person who wrote the scroll mistook himself when writing, since inside and outside it sounded similar.

With that thought in mind, he continued to channel his spiritual power into the sword.

As the spiritual power poured into it, he could feel as it entered the sword, burrowing into it and changing it's atomic structure. Much to his surprise, the spiritual power penetrated into it on an atomic level, entirely changing it's composition.

Since he had already gone so far, Issei continued channeling power. This new power then began to make it's way through the sword, creating something that Issei thought to be similar to profound veins.

He continued pouring more and more power, making the profound veins-looking holes started to get firmer and firmer, seeming more and more like profound veins.

After channeling for five minutes, Issei thought that it was enough as was just about to stop when suddenly, he felt a force of attraction coming from the sword, and without his permission, boundless spiritual power flowed from him into the sword.

Issei's eyes widened at the speed that he was loosing spiritual power and tried to throw the sword away, but it seemed that it had been glued to his hand. He could only watch as he was almost sucked dry of spiritual power, only with a sliver of spiritual power behind.

He grimaced as he wondered how many hours it would need to fill it up again...

But, it was also at that moment that the sword finally fell from his hand and onto the ground, giving off a loud noise.

Looking down, he looked at the sword and couldn't help but to widen his eyes. The previous pitch-black sword was completely different. Now, it was covered with red, hexagonal marks!

But, that wasn't the reason why he was surprised. It was because, even though he stopped channeling spiritual power, he could feel that there was still spiritual power flowing inside it in circles, constantly increasing!

 **Read and Review~!**


	16. Gan Jiang And Mo Ye

**Just some author notes. First, read the other author notes. In two days, I got a bunch of questions that could be answered simply by reading the previous author notes. Author notes aren't decorations. They are meant to be read, otherwise I wouldn't bother writing them.**

 **Also, just thought that I should say that after Issei finishes his training in the private cultivation room, I will begin to introduce much more characters, making the story less bland in terms of characters. Also, the plot would begin to thicken then.**

 **That's all, hope you enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

"What the..." said Issei slowly as he stared at the sword in front of him. He was surprised beyond words! The reason for that was because the sword was actually… cultivating!

Yes, indeed, the sword was cultivating. It seemed to have gained something similar to profound veins because of Issei's, well, mistake.

"This..." Issei muttered once more as he picked the sword and analyzed it carefully. It was now slightly bigger, and more dagger-like, with a wide and slightly curved blade. On it, a red hexagons could be seen all over it, giving birth to a tortoise shell-like pattern.

But, the most astonishing changes were on it's interior. Before, they were probably normal swords, but now, they possessed something akin to profound veins!

Issei, obviously, wasn't stupid, and he was quick to figure out that he had indeed made a blunder while trying to follow the instructions, but in reality, he couldn't really be happier.

In all of the blunders that Issei committed in his eleven years, this one was, undoubtedly, the best one!

"Amazing," Muttered Issei in shock as he continued to stare at the sword. It's appearance was truly amazing and it could also cultivate! He couldn't help but to be mesmerized by it.

It was also at that moment that he cast his glance at the pure white sword that had fallen to the ground previously.

"I wonder if I can do the same thing..." said Issei out loud as he looked back and forth between the two swords. As of right now, he had already known that he should have added the spiritual power outside of the sword and not inside it, but Issei had a feeling that he should do the same thing to this other sword.

He also didn't know why the spiritual power flowed inside it naturally, although he didn't command for it do so, but he quickly dismissed it as coincidence.

Deciding to follow his feelings, he set the black sword down, letting it calmly cultivate and increase its spiritual power. As of right now, it was already on the fifth level of the Nascent Profound Realm, the same as Issei. He wondered how far it could go, but since he knew would be finding out shortly, he decided to simply focus on the pure white sword.

Picking it up from the ground, he didn't begin the process with it immediately. Instead, he calmly sat down and rotated his spiritual power through his body, practicing the cultivation skill that Shinso had taught him, the Heavenly Energy Absorption.

The reason why he hadn't begun immediately was because he had almost been drained completely off spirit power when transforming the black sword, so he wanted to be in peak condition before starting the process with the white sword.

In normal situations, Issei wouldn't need to actually sit down and mediated in order to cultivate. One of the properties of his profound veins that he had discovered some time ago was that it would constantly practice the last cultivation skill he cultivated, so it could be said that Issei was, in fact, cultivating 24/7.

But, there was a condition. The moment he begun to use spiritual power, it would automatically stop absorbing and would only begin when he ceased his usage of spiritual power. That meant that in a battle, Issei wouldn't be able to keep a constant supply of spiritual power. Nonetheless, it was still amazing.

Obviously, if Issei wanted to absorb more spiritual power than normal, he could do the same method that normal cultivators did, which was to meditate in a cross-legged position. When doing that, the spiritual power absorption would increase by two-fold.

Since he was in a hurry to change the pure white sword, Issei cultivated the normal way.

After thirty minutes, Issei opened his eyes, this time full of energy. Not only was his eyes brimming with energy, his whole body seemed like it had the vitality to fight with lions at any given time.

One of the best part of cultivation was this one, that when a person cultivated to completely fill their spiritual power, all fatigue would be lost. It was significantly better than a long night of sleep.

Now that his body was ready, Issei quickly picked up the sword and did the same thing he did with the previous sword.

As expected, the same things happened, and it soon reached a point when it began to madly devour Issei's spiritual power, sucking him dry. By the end, the sword also seemed slightly different.

Now, it had less of the shine of a polished metal in its ore, and more of the haze of a cloud, like a white wave pattern.

The shape of the blade also changed, looking identical to the now transformed, black with red hexagons sword.

But, the most important of all was that it also had spiritual power and artificial profound veins.

Now, Issei had two of these strange looking swords. He then picked up the black sword, and saw that it was now at the tenth level of the Nascent Profound Realm. It had also stopped cultivating.

"So that's it's limit, huh?" Issei then brought the two swords together in front of him in order to analyze them at the same time.

But, when the swords came close to one another, a bright light appeared, covering both of them. In surprise, Issei let go of the swords, but much to his surprise, they just kept hovering in mid-air, shining brightly.

After about three minutes, they stopped shining, and slowly fell to the ground. Seeing that they had stopped doing… well, whatever they were doing, Issei came closer, only to see that they had changed once more.

Before, the black sword was only covered in red hexagons and the white in wave-like patterns, but now, in the divide between the hilt and the blade, a yin-yang symbol could be seen on both swords.

On the black hexagon-marked sword, the yin-yang was surrounded a white triangular shape while in the white wave-patterned sword, surrounding the yin-yang symbol was a black, triangular shape.

The hilts, that were originally the same color as the swords, took a wooden-like appearance, although they were still made of metal.

"Interesting..." muttered Issei in surprise as he once more picked up the two swords. Looking at them, he also saw another difference. On the bottom part of the hilt of both swords, there was something engraved.

On the black, turtle-patterned sword, the words Gan Jiang were engraved while on the white, wave-patterned sword, the words Mo Ye were engraved. Issei immediately understood that those were the names of the swords.

"Gan Jiang and Mo Ye, huh?" Issei muttered as he looked at the swords. Although he didn't know why these names only appeared after transforming, he decided not to pry too deep into it. In the end, it wasn't like it mattered.

Looking at the two swords, Issei decided to cast his spiritual power inside them at the same time in order to see if something else happened.

The moment he did that, both swords shined brightly once again. At the same time, miniature drawings of both swords appeared on his hands. Gan Jiang on his right and Mo Ye on his left.

They were really small drawings, almost imperceptible, but Issei immediately took notice of them. He also discovered that by sending spiritual power into them, the drawings would disappear and by sending it again, the drawing would reappear.

It was also important to note that the swords acted according to the drawings. When the drawings disappeared, the swords also disappeared, and when they appeared, so did the swords.

Discovering another fantastical property of the sword, Issei's smile grew wider. This was on hell of a blunder he committed, if he may say.

Well, now that he had already tested out the two swords, he decided to just proceed with what he was supposed to do in the first place.

Holding both swords up at the same time, he made his spiritual power flow _outside_ of them and cover them. Seeing that this time he had done the right thing, Issei smiled, although he still thought that the result of doing the wrong thing was infinitely superior.

Since he had already managed to cover the blades in spiritual power, Issei proceeded to the next step.

 _Bring both swords in front of you in an x shape, channel your spirit power into the sword and focus on the defense. After practicing it until you can immediately do it, start shouting "Defense"._

"So simple?" Issei muttered in surprise as he begun to follow the steps. Three hours later, he had already completely learned the first level.

"Hmm..." Issei muttered somewhat unsure if he had done it right. At the moment, he could already easily activate "Defense" whenever he wanted. Even if he was an unparalleled genius, he couldn't believe that it would be so easy.

Of course, it wasn't. Scroll with Martial Skill are different from normal written scrolls. From the m until near the end, the scroll is completely like an ordinary writing, but the moment that the way to use the martial skill is completely written, the scroll completely changes.

It's said that humans can only create Martial Skill upon reaching the Sky Profound Realm. That's because it's only then that they begin to be recognized by the heavens.

When people of the Sky Profound Realm start creating a martial skill, they must first envision all it's key points. How the spiritual energy flows, how it affects the surroundings, the differences cause by an increase or decrease of spiritual energy, where it's concentrated… and all that. Obviously, limits would be set to the power of the martial skill.

For example, people of the Sky Profound Realm can only make martial skills up to the third rank; cultivators of the Emperor Profound Realm can make skills up to the sixth rank; skills from the sixth to the eight level can only be made by cultivators of the Tyrant Profound Ream and so on...

Either way, after thinking of all that, the difficult part begins. After thinking of the key points, while channeling their Sky Profound Realm rank spiritual power to their fingers, they must use their spiritual power to write all key points of the skill, along with it's effects and abilities onto a scroll.

Then, the heavens recognize that the martial skill is created, making all that it's written on the scroll disappear, becoming a blank piece of paper with only a single writing; the rank of the skill.

After a couple of minutes, the ranking written on the paper would disappear, replaced by a bunch of ancient symbols. That is the language of the heavens.

Upon gazing at the language of the heavens, everyone would read different things. It all depends on their talent for martial skills comprehension. The higher a person's martial skill comprehension, the more easy the method of attaining the skill would be.

Also, the reason that people of lower levels are able to copy martial skill into papers is because if they were to write it exactly as they perceived it with some spiritual power in their fingers, the seemingly ordinary paper would also change to the language of the heavens. As such, it could be said that those that were recognized by the heavens could create martial skill while those that weren't recognized couldn't create them, but could copy them exactly like the original scroll.

As such, if a person has extremely low comprehension, it could even take decades to comprehend a rank 2 martial skill, because of the extreme complexity of the writing. Of course, if a person has an unbelievably high cultivation skill, it would be compact and easy to read that even a baby could understand. Such was Issei's case.

Furthermore, the higher the rank of the skill, the more talent for comprehension a person would need in order to make it easy for them to learn.

Finally, because of all that, although to Issei it seemed extremely simple, to other people, like the number on disciple of the school and the current headmaster, it would seem like they were reading a completely different language.

"Well, no matter," Issei then shrugged his shoulder, "No use in thinking about that. I should just focus on learning the second level and learn the counter-attack skill."

After that, Issei spend the next four hours diligently following the instructions from the scroll, and in the end, he finished learning the second level.

At the moment, he was pondering whether he should try learning the third level or should test out the first two levels on the training dummy. At the end, he decided to go with the later.

"Let's see what this thing can do," said Issei as he walked towards the training dummy. Since both of the skill, counter-attack and defense, required the opponent to attack him, he decided to set the training dummy on the third level, because he wasn't sure if could already handle the later ones.

* zhum * A rumbling sound came from the training dummy as it seemed to awaken. It's feet left the platform and took one step forward, his six arms casually laying by his sides.

Seeing that it was ready, Issei didn't say anything and brought out Gan Jiang a Mo Ye, both drawings appearing on his hands. Sending his spiritual power inside it to fill it and outside it to cover it, Issei leaped forward like a fierce tiger and sent a normal attack to its torso.

The dummy stood there without moving even while facing Issei's attack. Just as the attack was about to land, his whole whole body, including his torso and legs, bent back, finding support only on it's legs lower parts.

"What?" Issei muttered in surprise but before he could continue, the dummy's body went back at full force like a whip and sent an attack at Issei's chest.

Although it wasn't a really strong attack, since it was only at the third level of power, it pushed Issei back by a couple of feet.

"Oh?" Issei said, not bothered by the attack at all. In fact, in his face, a wild smile could be seen, a fierce glint shining in his eyes, "No wonder almost no one other than the top ten of the school can take off your limbs… you truly are good, even at the third level!"

He then took a serious posture, said, "This will be quite fun," then leaped forward at the dummy once more.

* * *

 **As you can see, I literally gave Issei Archer's favorite (from the Fate series) swords, also known as Kanshou and Bakuya. The names of the swords, from what I could understand from the wiki, are actually Gan Jiang and Mo Ye, Kanshou and Bakuya being Japanese translations since the original names are in Chinese, and since most of the names I'm using in this story are Chinese, because of the fact that the novels that I based myself on are all Chinese, I decided to keep the Chinese names instead of the Japanese ones.**

 **Futhermore, aside from the appearance and names, Gan Jiang and Mo Ye will have slightly different power and functions when compared to how they work in the Fate series, something you'll find out as this series goes on.**

 **Also, as far as their origin goes, although it will not be the same, it will hold quite some similarities to their original story in the Fate series. You could say that I took the story of their origin as inspiration and created a new one similar to the original, but with some major changes.**

 **Well, that's all. Until tomorrow!**


	17. Four Ways Of The Lightning

Two hours.

For two hours, Issei fought against the dummy without stopping even once. Whenever he was pushed back, he would charge forward. Whenever he was blocked, he would attack again. He did not stop.

On this two hours, Issei's abilities in battle increased by leaps and bounds. The reason for that was because he finally found an opponent he could go all out on.

Although on Shinso's castle he always fought with the servants and Shinso himself, they always held back, afraid of harming Issei too badly. But, the dummy was different. It could not think, it would only attack when attacked. It was simple, yet deadly.

On this two hours, the skills he used the most were the first and second levels of the Heavenly Swords Might. If it was to be said that Issei had completely mastered the theoretical usage of them before, now Issei could claim that he mastered it to an unbelievable level in terms of practical uses.

Being able to launch the defense and counter attack from any position, also coupled with his quick reaction speed, the dummy was hard-pressed to damage him once he got the hang of it.

The dummy, on the other hand, had suffered many bruises. At the start of the battle, it had an absolute advantage, but now, they were, at most, evenly paired. Issei probably even had a slight advantage.

Currently, Issei had just finished clashing against the dummy for god knows which time. Although he was heavily bruised from the attacks he suffered at the very start, he could probably keep on for a couple more hours if it was only that.

In reality, the main problem was that Issei had spent too much of his spiritual power. Constantly using it to fuel the swords, along with launching martial skill after martial skill, even Issei had a limit.

Glaring at the dummy once more with a bit of excitement, Issei finally shrugged his shoulder and sat down, crossing his legs. He then began to cultivate, once more filling his dantian and profound veins to the brim with spiritual power.

Once they were filled, he didn't continue anymore, because that would be the same as trying to increase his maximum amount of spiritual power. Although normal cultivators did that most of the time in order to break through to new levels and realms, Issei didn't bother doing that. He knew that it was useless for him.

After regaining his peak condition, Issei didn't jump at the dummy again. Instead, he pulled out the scroll containing the Heavenly Double Swords Might martial skill.

Quickly jumping to the part that explained how to cultivate the third level, Issei began to read it with rapt attention. After a couple of minutes, he completely understood what he should do and then began practicing according to the instructions.

One hour, two hours, three hours... after a whole day, Issei had already finished mastering all three levels of the martial skill.

If any of the other disciples of the Heavenly Might School were to know of this, they wouldn't believe it, no matter what.

Actually mastering a skill that even the biggest genius of the school couldn't even to comprehend after three years in a single day, that was just too absurd.

Nevertheless, Issei, as always, did the impossible as if it was a walk in the park.

After mastering all three levels of the skill, he walked back to the dummy. Instead of attacking it, he went to its base and changed it's power to level 4.

At the moment, he needed to put the skills that he had learned to practice and to be able to use them fluidly.. Only then would he be able to completely master it.

After the dummy changed to level 4, Issei walked back a few feet and then glared at the dummy. He then slightly shook his hands, making the drawings of Gan Jiang and Mo Ye to appear along with their physical bodies.

This time, he planned to fight until his limits. He knew that only by pushing his body to its limit could he truly become stronger.

As he adjusted his stance, he glared at the dummy, his eyes sharpening. At the moment, aside from testing the complete set of skills from the Heavenly Double Swords Might, he had another objective, which was to test an idea that had come to mind when cultivating the third level.

Five hours later, Issei was still battling the dummy. He was currently staring at the dummy who had just thrown him far away with his arms. Facing the dummy who only had a few shallow cuts that were quickly disappearing, Issei, whose body was beaten black and blue and whose clothes were in ruins, didn't back down.

 _Must not give up..._

Gathering spiritual power inside and outside of the swords, Issei leaped forward in extreme speeds, reaching the dummy in seconds. Just as he reached it, he swung Gan Jiang and Mo Ye at it at the same time, aiming at its side.

"Heavenly Strike!"

At that moment, the spiritual energy on both swords grew erratic, covering the swords in blinding white light as he used the skill of the third level of the Heavenly Double Swords Might – Heavenly Strike.

Just as the swords were about reach their targets, two of the dummy arm immediately defended against the incoming swords, blocking their paths. At the same time, another two arms shot towards Issei. His worn out eyes widened as the arms flew towards him.

 _Must not give up._

Before the attacks could reach him, Issei focused his strength of his left foot and jumped up, at the same time calling both Gan Jiang and Mo Ye back, completely dodging the attack.

While in air, he quickly brought both swords back.

 _Must not give up!_

"Heavenly Strike!"

Once more, the swords started shining as Issei held them in a crossed position as he fell down, aiming at the dummy's head.

Just as Issei was about to strike at the dummy, all six arms quickly went up, intending to block the sword.

When they were about to clash, Issei immediately called back both swords, making him fall down in front of the dummy who had all of his six arms still up.

 _Must not give up!_

Before the dummy could recognize that it had been fooled, Issei immediately brought both swords back and slashed at the defenseless dummy's body while using Heavenly Strike.

With a bang, the dummy's body was cut in half as its torso fell ot the ground.

"Finally..." Issei muttered as he watched the dummy fall to the ground. He was battered, beaten, ragged, but within his eyes, as sense accomplishment could be seen.

Those five hours were, undoubtedly, the most accomplishing of life.

Looking at his two swords, Issei smiled. If he had normal swords, he could never pull off what he just did.

Although it was possible to bring swords back and forth from his cosmos sack or Sky Poison Pearl, they couldn't be called back or be brought out instantly. But, the swords in his hands were different. Because of being infused with his spiritual power, they seemed to attach themselves to his body and could be called out whenever he wanted.

After smiling at the swords, he turned his head to look one more time at the dummy. When he looked at it, his eyes widened.

"So it seems it was true..." Issei muttered as he watched the torso of the dummy use its six arms to carry itself to its legs. After entering in contact, the dummy began to close the gap and in a couple of minutes, it was as good as new.

In a couple of minutes, what he took five hours to accomplish was simply washed away like the rain. Although his accomplishments were for naught, Issei still smiled, "So, it seems like that no matter how much I hurt you, you can take it," He began, "Well, seems like I have found the perfect punching bag."

At the moment, Issei was too exhausted to fight a second time. Instead, he sat down cross-legged and picked the second martial skill, the Four Ways Of the lightning and began to read it.

The first thing he discovered was that the Four Ways Of The Lightning wasn't nearly as simple as the Heavenly Double Swords Might. While on the latter, all you did was to enhance the attacking power of the sword with spiritual power, on the former, you actually manipulated spiritual power into lightning.

To manipulate spiritual power into an element wasn't something that could easily be done by any means. It was tantamount to creating something out of nothing. From that, one could imagine the level of difficulty.

Well, that would be for normal people, and of course, not including Issei. As far as he was concerned, it was only slightly more difficult than Heavenly Double Swords Might.

In short, like Heavenly Double Swords Might, Four Ways Of The Lightning was also divided in levels. Just like the name, there were four levels, or, to be more correct, ways.

When cultivated to the first way, one would be able to bring forth a wall of lightning, with only defensive properties. It could not attack at all, only block incoming attacks.

After cultivating it to the second way, would be able to create lightning for attack. According to the scroll, the attacks that could be done were spheres of lightning or lightning strikes.

Once cultivated to the third way, one would be able to channel lightning beneath their feet and use it for an increase in speed.

Finally, on the fourth way, one would be able to use lightning to enhance the cultivator's body or a weapon.

Those four ways made the rank 4 martial skill, Four Ways Of The Lightning.

After reading that far, Issei closed the book and called back his swords. He then sat down cross-legged and for three days and three nights, he cultivated the first way, and on the end of the third night, mastered it.

After that, he ate some food before beginning his path on the second way. On it, he took a relatively longer time, four days and four nights.

Immediately after, Issei did not rest as he quickly cultivated the third and fourth level in ten days time.

During the entire time, he would only eat when absolutely necessary. He would no sleep. He would focus his whole soul into learning and comprehending the martial skill.

It had already been eighteen days since Issei had entered the room.

"Finished," said Issei as he finally mastered all the four ways. Slowly opening his eyes, he looked around the room. His gaze wasn't the same as the one from before he entered the room.

He was more calm, more collected, and, most importantly, more deadly. Also, in his eyes that used to be chocolate brown, an azure hint could be seen courtesy of cultivating lightning based martial skills.

Slowly moving his body, Issei got up from his cross-legged position. Looking at the Dummy, he didn't directly launch an attack at it. Instead, he calmly placed the scroll containing the Four Ways Of The Lightning in his cosmos sack, and then brought out the Illusionary Palm martial skill.

Illusionary Palm, although being of the same rank as the other two martial skills, it was the most simple by far. It consisted of channeling spiritual power into one's palm and then launching the spiritual power forward in the form of a palm. It could be used for attack and defense.

Being the easiest out of the three, the time Issei spent learning it was also the smallest, only a trifling four hours.

Now, Issei had completely grasped the three most difficult martial skills available for inner disciples. And, he did that in eighteen days. Something of that level... if the geniuses of the Profound Sky Continent were to hear of it, they would feel unworthy of their status of genius.

Now that he had mastered all the skills, Issei quickly placed the Illusionary Palm scroll on his cosmos sack. Once more, he didn't proceed to attack the dummy immediately. Instead, he brought forth a pile containing a lot books.

Those were the books that Sa Ji had brought him about medicine and pill concocting. Issei then picked the one on top of the pile and began to quickly read through it.

Because of his abnormally high intelligence and memory, he only needed to so much as glance at a page to understand it. Using his extremely fast reading speed, in two days, Issei completely devoured the pile of books.

At the moment, his knowledge on all medicinal areas was greatly enhanced, also his knowledge on pill concocting.

Currently, he could already use the Sky Poison Pearl to concoct any of the pills and medicines described on the books.

Now that he had already finished all he had to do, Issei placed all books on his cosmos sack and directed his attention to the dummy.

Walking over to it, he then did something that not even core disciples dared to do. He actually went and set its limiter to the fifth level!

* * *

 **Hey guys, only reminding that this is the last chapter of Issei's training in the private cultivation room. After that, he will battle the dummy once more time and then head out. That's when the true story will begin, with a lot of characters, conflicts and events. Also, I'll considerably decrease the amount of info about the lore and will only drop them once in a while.**

 **Either way, expect another chapter today!**


	18. The True Way Of The Lightning

**Oh yeah, Fruitloops, with regards to your review, I don't have an exact time when I post chapters, sorry. With regards to the time zone, its UTC/GMT -3 hours.**

* * *

One boy and a dummy, facing each other. The boy, his face calm yet excited, pumped up yet stable. The dummy, his wooden face stoic.

"This will be our final battle," said Issei softly. Although he knew that the dummy had no conscience and no intelligence, he felt like sharing some final words.

"Although you are only an inanimate object, I must thank you," Issei said with a slight bow. "I'm glad we fought so much!"

After lifting his head, a dangerous glint appeared on his sharp, cold and excited eyes. "Now, we will fight for real!"

Issei then dashed towards the dummy. Before he even attacked, the dummy took the initiative, just like Sa Ji said it would on the fifth level.

Sending out a sharp punch, the dummy moved three of his arms towards Issei's head, the air almost ripping apart at the spend.

Staring at the incoming attack, Issei didn't stop as he raised his palm and brought it forward, making a large illusionary palm appear and block the dummy's attack.

Issei then immediately channeled lightning to his feet and jumped up, jumping over the dummy. While in the air, his eyes flashed with lightning as he summoned his two swords.

"Second Way, Lightning Burst!"

At the moment, in front of Gan Jiang and Mo Ye, two spheres of lightning appeared, shooting forward at the dummy.

Before the attacks even reached, Issei continued with a second wave of attack.

"Illusionary Palm!" Issei shot quickly called back both swords and immediately sent five palm strikes at the dummy, each bring forth an illusionary palm that brimmed with power.

The dummy's torso did a full turn around and blocked all strikes, losing two arms in the process.

Before he could even attach the arms again, Issei was already behind him, slashing his swords.

"Fourth Way, Enhancement!" "Heavenly Strike!" Issei activated both martial skills at the same time, infusing both swords with lightning and at the same time launching a Heavenly Strike that was covered in lightning, like a fierce beast.

The dummy, who had no time to evade, could only use his arms to block, losing two more arms. Now, it only had one par left.

Before the dummy could launch a counter-attack, Issei's body crouched down and swiped at the dummy's leg with his own, making it lose his balance and start falling.

However, before he could fall, Issei's body twisted on the ground.

"Fourth Way, Enhancement!" His feet, now full of lightning, hit the dummy's body side-ways, making him launch towards a wall, crashing into it with a loud noise.

Immediately after launching the attack, Issei's eyes shone with a murderous glint, "Third Way, Movement!"

His legs, now full of lightning, dashed forward towards the dummy that was stuck at the wall. Just as they were about to reach, Issei's hand that was holding Gan Jiang pulled back and when they were about to reach, it lashed forward like a whip, Mo Ye doing the same.

"Heavenly Strike!" Issei roared as he felt the swords pierce through the dummy's body completely. But, he didn't end there.

Calling back his swords, Issei brought his arms back and started launching palm strike after palm strike at the dummy, each one bringing life to an illusionary image of a palm!

* Bang * * Bang*...

Countless bang noises came forth as each of his strikes hit against the dummy's body and the wall, bringing forth ear-splitting noises and dirt.

One, ten, a hundred... Issei didn't stop, each palm carrying more and more power.

Only after completely exhausting his spiritual power did he stop. Retreating back a couple of steps, Issei waited for the dirt, result of Issei's attack against the rock, that was blocking his vision in the air to dissipate.

After dissipating, what appeared wasn't a body. No, it was a round object – the dummy's head.

His attacks... completely obliterated the dummy's body! Only a head remained!

"Finally..." Issei said slowly. He then let his body fall down to the ground, immediately beginning to cultivate.

At the moment, Issei felt good. Really good. He just accomplished something that he had set out on accomplishing since the very day he battled the dummy – completely winning against it!

He had to admit, doing it with his own hard-work, with his own sweat, with his own two hands... the sense of achievement was simply exhilarating.

Once his spiritual energy was full, he slowly opened his eyes, looking at the dummy. However, the moment he looked at it, he was utterly surprised.

"What...?" Issei said, his mouth agape. The reason for his exaggerated reaction was because the dummy not only had completely regenerated, its appearance also changed.

It now had eight arms and two heads, its body was also bigger.

"How?" Issei said, but then something else caught his attention. On the dummy's base, the lever seemed to have passed through the fifth layer, entering a layer that he didn't know exited – The sixth layer.

"Truly..." Issei then said, now over his shock. In fact, he had a glad expression on his face, "Seems like we are both alike. We simply won't give up, no matter what...

"Then so be it...

"Let's see who's stronger!"

Issei then leaped forward and once more began to battle against the dummy.

Blow after blow, they endlessly launched attacks.

During the fight, Issei noticed that the dummy had another power – It could now control lightning!

The way it controlled lightning was also much more profound than his. The lightning seemed to have become on with him, and him one with the lightning. Each of its strikes were natural, as if Nature itself had sent them.

Each of his blows, beautiful, shining. As Issei continued to battle, he understood the difference between them.

Issei could only use lightning on limited ways... he could not freely control it. However, the dummy actually... had complete control over lightning!

"To become one with lightning..." Issei muttered slightly, enlightenment filled his eyes. He was beginning to comprehend something. Something important.

"To fuse your nature...

"To become nature itself...

"To become the lightning!"

At that moment, a look of comprehension appeared on his eyes. He now understood... he now knew that the Four Ways Of The lightning... it didn't end on the fourth way.

During the battle, he was enlightened. He discovered... that there was still a fifth way... a way that only the one who created it wast aware of.

The fifth way – The True lightning! The ability to control lightning like your limbs... the ability to fuse your body with lightning... to become one with it... the way of the True Lightning!

"So that's how it is..." Issei muttered as he once more blocked an incoming strike from the dummy. He now knew that there was still a fifth way... and the only way to acquire it would be to become one with lightning.

Immediately, he called back Gan Jiang and Mo Ye. He now focused all of his power on the Four Ways Of The lightning, but he didn't call out any skills.

He just imagined his spiritual power becoming lightning when he used the skills of the four ways, but at the same time, he imagined it without restrictions.

He imagined it free!

He imagine it wild!

He imagined it ferocious!

He imagined it just how the True Lightning, which cut across the sky, was! Free! Wild! Ferocious!

It was also at that moment that the dummy sent over a lightning attack at Issei.

Not bothering to block it, Issei let the lightning be absorbed inside his body. He let his body be electrocuted... he let himself feel like a lightning!

At that moment, something stirred on his profound veins. The spiritual power contained in it... transformed itself into lightning!

Opening his eyes, Issei finally looked at the dummy who had stopped its barrage of attack once he noticed that Issei stopped moving.

Issei's eyes, they were no longer brown. They were now a bright, etheral azure color! They were the color of lightning!

In it, unimaginable fierceness could be seen. Wild beyond belief... boundless power!

Slowly lifting up his right hand, lightning started to condense in it. It then became large sphere of lightning, and then a spear, after that a sword, followed by a shield...

"This is true lightning!" exclaimed Issei as he felt complete control over one of Nature's most powerful forces.

At that moment, lightning spheres began to appear all around Issei.

"Lightning, the most powerful of natures forces," Issei began to recite as words flooded his mind.

The spheres started bustling with electricity, eager to jump out.

"The most fierce, the most destructive..."

The spheres began to grow larger, the noise coming from them growing louder.

"Lightning is the ultimate weapon..."

The spheres started to contort itself, each of them becoming a different weapon. Swords, daggers, spear, lances...

"Lightning has the most power!"

More spheres appeared, already transforming into weapons. Issei's long hair whipped back and forth, his robes floating as if it was against the wind, although no wind was there. It was all formed from the spiritual power and lightning around Issei.

At that moment, a small smile crept on Issei's lip.

"Lightning is free!"

Immediately, all of the hundreds of weapons of lightning launched forward, their target a single one – the dummy.

Even as the weapons flew to the dummy, more weapons appeared, also following its predecessors to attack the dummy.

Issei, whose face was covered in an ethereal blue light, his eyes crackling with lightning itself, said softly, "This is the end."

At that moment, all weapons hit their targets, exploding into it, bringing lightning all around the room, filling it with a bright, azure light.

The building shook, startling the cultivators within it. They quickly dismissed it as small tremor, getting back to cultivate. At that time, no one was in the corridor of the third floor, so no one could see as the entire corridor was painted white, all originating from room 39.

The light kept like shining for a full three minutes before disappearing.

Back to Issei's private room, all that could be seen was black.

The floors, ceiling, walls... everything was black, the destructiveness of the lightning was frightening.

In the entire room, only one thing was left unscathed, the one who originated the attack – Issei.

He was currently standing up, looking over at the center of the room. The lightning around him had disappeared, his eyes back to its brown color.

He then smiled lightly, looking around the room, "The fifth way of the lightning, the true way..." Issei muttered lightly.

"I must thank you, kind dummy. If it wasn't for you, I never would have reached this level of power. You have my gratitude," Issei said with utmost politeness and gratefulness as he bowed to the charred remains of the dummy.

Looking around the room one more time, Issei closed his eyes and sat down cross-legged. His appearance really looked out of the place in a completely dark room.

He then evened his breathing and begun cultivating, replenishing his spiritual energy.

As he sensed his spiritual energy getting back to his body, he could occasionally feel a bolt of lightning spark inside his profound veins and dantian.

The Fifth Way of The Lightning... the secret way of the Four Ways Of The Lightning... the one only the creator knew.

It allowed the owner to change the nature of their own spiritual power, allowed them to make their spiritual power directly become lightning.

Because of that, it was ultimately versatile and adaptable. The creator of the skill himself had only been able to reach the fifth way at the end of his life, after countless dozens of years of non-stop cultivating it. He knew that although it seemed like a rank 4 martial skill on the surface, he had unintentionally created a rank 11 martial skill!

A martial skill that went against the heavens... a martial skill that allowed the user's body to assimilate lightning like his own blood, a power exclusive to the heavens.

That was the true form of the Four Ways Of lightning – True Way Of The Lightning!

A martial skill that was normally rank 4, but upon discovering its secrets and unlocking its fifth way, it would become a rank 11 martial skill.

A skill that defied the heavens! A legendary Skill!

A skill that in the entire world, only Issei grasped. It belonged to him, and only him.

 **Read and Review~!**


	19. Winning In Less Than A Second

**Holy... so many reviews! That's awesome. For all of those who reviewed, you have my deep gratitude. One of the things I like the most is to read reviews, after all.**

 **Either way, enough of my useless talking.**

 **Just one last thing. Mr(Ms)Graum, I must thank you for pointing that out. It completely passed by me! Also, I do a spell check in every chapter, it's just that I don't notice some stuff, and given the fact that I don't have a beta since mu previous left because of my change in schedule, its pretty hard to spell-check so much. Once more, thanks for pointing it out!**

* * *

For the remaining twelve days, Issei didn't move at all. He didn't eat and didn't drink water. He only meditated and rotated his spiritual power inside his body.

He had to do so because ever since his spiritual power's nature changed into lightning, the flow of spiritual energy became, well, erratic.

It wasn't stable, constantly surging back and forth, bursting with dangerous power. The moment he noticed that, he immediately took it upon himself to stabilize it.

And after twelve day of continuous meditation and stabilizing, he succeeded. As of that moment, it was much calmer, similar to how it was before he fused with the lightning, although with some differences.

Before, his flow of spiritual power in his profound veins and dantian was calm and serene, like a calm turtle. But now, it was bursting with power, ready to lash out at any moment, like a ferocious tiger.

Such a change was unavoidable since he fused with the wildest of the nature's elements. Either way, aside from the change in the nature of his spiritual power, there was another significant change.

Every once in a while, lightning would crackle in his profound system. That, although it seemed detrimental, was, in fact, an extremely good development. Because of the constant surge of electricity, his cultivation was improved, and now, although it would still take the same time to reach the sixth level of the Nascent Profound Realm, his spiritual power would fill at a much greater speed.

When he finally finished meditating, it was morning outside. Also, it had been exactly one month since he entered the room.

Issei then carefully opened his eyes and looked at the blackened room. His eyes, which were chocolate-brown before, were now a much lighter color, although still brown. But, there was a difference. In them boundless fierceness could be seen, along with serenity.

Such contrast was because of the lightning and Issei's personality. Issei was usually serene while lightning was fierce. Normally, those two things could not coexist, but because of the fusion, both contrasting characteristics were made possible in a single person.

"It has been one month..." Issei said softly. He then slowly got up from the ground and looked around the black room.

He then raised his left hand, looking at the mark of the Tiger Profound System, a medium ranked profound system. Such a mark was simply a drawing made by Shinso to fool others.

He then raised his right hand, on which the Grim Reaper's Symbol was hidden with a special type of paint.

As he looked at his two hands, Issei's light brown eyes flashed, quickly becoming an ethereal azure color. His hair, that was normally brown, became a light blue. In his hands, a ball of lightning appeared. All around him, lightning flowed around, making him seem like a lightning god.

That was how Issei looked when he activated the lightning power inside him. Strangely enough, there was no difference in the expenditure of spiritual power in this mode when compared to his normal mode.

"This mode..." Issei began as more and more lightning began to appear around him, flowing in the air, "Will be called Lightning Incarnation!"

His current mode, Lightning Incarnation, allowed him to freely control lightning. He could make lightning envelop his body, create lightning, mold lightning... he was like a sovereign of lightning.

He then closed his eyes and called the lightning back the lightning. Immediately, he turned normal. When he opened his eyes again, they were a light brown color.

"Good, now I just need to check some things," Issei said in satisfaction. Right now, he would use all of the abilities he obtained since coming here, just to see if everything was in order.

Bringing out Gan Jiang and Mo Ye, he covered them in spiritual power.

"First Level, Defense!" Issei exclaimed as the blade were brought in front of him in a cross position, a defensive, quasi-impenetrable aura around them. According from what he could understand from its power, it could defend one attack from a person up to two levels above him and a martial skill up to the sixth rank.

"Second Level, Counter-attack!" This time, his blades that were in front of him in a defensive position slashed forward in an arc, bringing with it the power the power of three times his normal attack power.

Immediately after the counter-attack skill finished its movement, he exclaimed, "Heavenly Strike!" At that moment, the blades slashed forward with the power of fifteen times a normal attack of his.

Seeing that all was in order with regards to the Heavenly Double Swords Might, Issei called back both swords. He then concentrated spiritual power in his hands and exclaimed, "First Way, dense!"

Immediately, a lightning wall appeared in front of him. The power contained in that lightning barrier was significantly weaker than when he used the lightning within him, but was still considerable.

"Second Way, Attack!" At that moment, two spheres of lightning, both pitiful when compared to his on the Lightning Incarnation mode appeared and sped forwards, hitting a near by wall.

"Third Way, Movement!" This time, lightning build up beneath his feet. He then dashed forward, at a speed ten times greater than normal.

"Fourth Way, Enhancement!" Instantly, lightning entered his arms as they increased his strength.

Seeing that he could still use all four ways, Issei was pleased. Although they paled in comparison to when he freely used lightning on Lightning Incarnation state, he was glad that he could still use them. He decided that in case he didn't want to show off his true power and needed to keep a lower profile, he would use them.

Finally, Issei used his last skill, Illusionary Palm. As the previous skills, it worked perfectly.

Now that he was sure that he could perfectly use all martial skills, Issei breathed a sigh of relief. At the start, he had been scared that the lightning had somehow messed with his body and made him forget some of the skills.

Since he could still use all of them, Issei decided to head out and meet with Sa Ji. Just as he was about to open the door, he finally remembered something.

Looking black at the completely destroyed and black room, he sweat-dropped. How the hell was he supposed to explain the room's condition to Sa Ji?

He couldn't possibly tell him that he learned Four Ways Of The Lightning, neither the other two skills. He knew that if Sa Ji were to know, more and more people would find out. That was what feared the most.

True, he wanted to become the number one disciple of the school, but not at the moment. He was too weak.

Shinso had told him countless times that the world they lived in followed the law of the jungle. Survival of the fittest.

It was a world where the world prey on the weak, where the strong are truly powerful. It was also a world full of merciless people.

He knew, that by nature, humans were greedy and jealous. If the number one disciple of the school were to know that Issei had the potential to surpass him, Issei was sure that he would do everything possible to make him disappear.

Because of that, Issei was determined to only rise in power when he was strong enough to take on every disciple in school. Only then would his position as the number one disciple be safe.

As such, because of all that, Issei decided that he would pretend that he didn't learn any of the skills during his stay here in his month, and would pretend that he spent his time reading the books that Sa Ji had brought him and cultivating.

But, because of the destruction caused by his power of lightning, Issei was unsure of how he should explain such a room to Sa Ji.

In the end, after thinking for a couple of minutes, Issei decided that he simply wouldn't let Sa Ji enter the room. He had no reason to, anyways. Furthermore, as far as Issei was concerned, he had the only key available, so he shouldn't need to worry about people entering the room.

With that line of thought, he could finally dispel his worries and calmly walk outside the destroyed room and onto the corridor.

Just like the first time that he came there, it was empty. Looking around for a bit, Issei decided to wait by his door for Sa Ji, since he knew that he would be coming soon.

As expected, not even ten minutes later, Sa Ji entered the building, intending to get Issei and then bring him to do some important stuff that _she_ ordered him to do.

Much to his surprise, Issei was already outside waiting for him when he arrived. Seeing that, he raised his arm and waved it, "Hey, Junior Brother Issei!"

Startled by the voice, Issei looked at the entrance and saw Sa Ji entering the corridor. Immediately, Issei's contrasting personality of fierce and serene disappeared, replaced by a bashful personality.

"Senior Brother Ji," said Issei respectfully as he bowed slightly.

"So, how was this one month? Did your cultivation increase?" Sa Ji asked curiously as he approached the eleven years old body.

Shaking his head, Issei said, "No, but I improved a lot! I'm more knowledgeable in medicines and fighting!"

"Oh? Really?" Sa Ji said with a smirk, "So, how about a spar?"

"Spar?

"Yes, let's fight a little, I want to see just how good my junior brother is!"

Hearing his words, Issei thought over the situation. At the moment, he truly needed someone to spar with, specially a human. That was because during his stay there, he developed a fighting style, and he was eager to test it out.

"If that's so, then I'll have to trouble Senior Brother Ji."

"Great!" Sa Ji exclaimed happily. "Let's go the arena!" He then began to walk away, Issei following him behind.

In reality, the spar wasn't his idea. _She_ ordered him to spar with Issei to see exactly how good he is and depending on how good he is, to register him in the medicine hunt. Obviously, Sa Ji tried to finish his task as soon as possible, asking Issei as soon as he met him.

Twenty minutes later, they were standing, apart by a couple of meters, on one of the various arenas of the school. The disciples were allowed access to the arena whenever they wanted, the only requirement was that it wasn't occupied.

There was a single rule – No killing. You could only kill on the Death Arena, the biggest arena in the area. Before battling in the Death Arena, both participants had to sign a contract that said that the school wouldn't be responsibility by their deaths.

"Junior Brother Issei, I'm going first!" Sa Ji exclaimed as he leaped forward and launched a punch at Issei. The punch was filled with spiritual power, it was the martial skill Heavenly Punch. A rank 3.

As Issei calmly watched the incoming strike, he simply straightened his fingers on his left hand. Just as the punch was about to hit its target, it seemed as if the world stopped moving.

In a swift movement, Issei analyzed Sa Ji's arms, its positioning and angle. Immediately, he stepped forward, calmly walking.

His movements were fluid, like a snake in water. As he walked, his left arm moved with unparallelled speed as it struck against three different areas on Sa Ji's arm.

Each step fluid, calm, beautiful and serene. Each strike wild, ferocious and fierce.

That movement encompassed Issei's true nature – serene but fierce.

The ultimate contradiction.

Not stopping, Issei continued walking, his arm moving like a whip as he consecutively struck various spots in Sa Ji's body – torso, legs and arms.

All that took less than one second.

When he finished, he was standing behind Sa Ji. At that moment, it seemed as if the world started moving again.

Before Sa Ji could even figure how Issei got behind him, he felt his entire body go numb as he fell to the ground.

"What the...?" Sa Ji muttered as he crashed against the ground. He couldn't move at all; it was as if his limbs weren't his.

"Senior Brother Ji, I think it's my victory," Issei said politely as he walked back to where Sa Ji was laying on the ground, an innocent and bashful smile on his face.

At that moment, Sa Ji understood. Issei had done something. Although he couldn't see, he understood that in that split-second, Issei had completely sealed his movement.

In Sa Ji's heart, the word scary appeared as he looked at the innocent looking bashful child in front of him. Truly frightening.

"Yes," Sa Ji finally said as he took in a deep breath, "Could you tell me what you did?"

At that moment, Issei showed a troubled expression, "I'm sorry, Senior Brother Ji, but I can't. It's a family secret..."

"Is that so?" Sa Ji said, slightly crest-fallen. He truly wondered what martial skill Issei used to beat him in less than a second.

Now, if Sa Ji were to find out that Issei hadn't used a martial skill, his reaction would have been priceless.

What Issei had done in reality was to use the method he developed after reading the books about human anatomy. By striking at specific points in a human's body, it was possible to restrain their movement and make they lose control of their limbs.

Obviously, such a thing couldn't be used in combat because no one had the eye-sight, mental power and speed necessary to do such a thing during a battle. It was simply impossible.

Once more, Issei was an exception. If it were the Issei from before, he wouldn't be able to do it. Although he could recognize the points he needed to apply pressure in a split-second, his physical body couldn't keep up.

That was before he fused with lightning. Because of the fusion, even while not in Lightning Incarnation state, his body had already improved by leaps and bounds. Although his physical strength only lightly improved, the speed in which he could move his limbs improved more than greatly, to the point where it could barely keep up with his mind.

Although it still wasn't fast enough to match his mind, he could still manage somethings, and applying pressure to certain spots was certainly one of them.

All of that enabled Issei to create his own martial art, one he dubbed the Strike Of The Lightning, because of the lightning-fast speed required to use the it.

 **Read and Review~!**

 **Also, expect new characters next chapter~!**


	20. Sitri Sona

Sa Ji was currently walking through a dark corridor. After taking some turns, sometimes left, sometimes right, he was finally standing in front of a dark, wooden door.

As he looked at the door, he remembered that day's past events, preparing to do a summary for the person behind the door.

He then recalled everything that happened in the past couple of hours. After the battle with Issei, he had to spend five more minutes laying down before he could regain his movements.

After that, he brought Issei to the Mighty Skill Pavilion to hand back the three skills. Issei then picked three rank 3 martial skills, all about double swords.

Then, he took Issei to each lunch and afterward told him to rest in the dormitory a little and to wait for him while he prepared to do somethings.

After that, he directly headed to this place. At the moment, Issei was still in the dormitory, resting and waiting for him to come back.

He then took in a deep breath and knocked on the door three times.

After a slight pause, a pleasant yet cold voice rang out, "Come in."

Taking one last deep breath, steeling his nerves and putting on a serious face, Sa Ji opened the door and stepped forward into the room.

The room itself was rather simple, nothing too extravagant. Its decoration consisted of a large table with an archaic chair and some paintings here and there. Also, there was a shelf full of books at the back of the room.

However, all of that didn't matter. What truly mattered was the one sitting on the chair, casually reading a book.

She was a young girl in here late teens with dark black hair in a short bob cut and violet, cold eyes.

Her lithe, slim figure was covered in the normal robes of the school for inner disciples. Although she wasn't really buxom, with small peaks, her figure was still pleasing to the eyes.

However, when one looked at her, they wouldn't be able to admire her figure, neither her beautiful, elegant face. That was because, upon even glancing once into her eyes, anyone would feel afraid.

Her violet, elegant, sharp eyes were cold, like a snowstorm in winter. In it, absolute coldness along with strictness could be perceived, making anyone frightened.

Sa Ji was no exception.

Immediately after seeing her eyes, his figure shook a little before he forcefully composed himself.

For five minutes, the woman ignored him. Only after a period of time passed did she lift her head from the book that she was reading, her gaze even colder, as if it was staring deep into his soul.

"Sa Ji," She said, her voice cold and strict.

"Yes, President?" He said, tensing up slightly.

"Report," was her simple, one-word order.

Immediately, Sa Ji started recounting the events that transpired through the day and how Issei was waiting for him in the dorm.

After listening through the whole story, the cold woman nodded her head, slight surprise present in her face. She then looked over at Sa Ji, and in a serious tone, said "To lose in less than a second to an eleven years old… do you feel no shame?"

As soon as he heard that, Sa Ji grimaced lightly. True, she hit him right in the spot. He felt like digging up a hole and sticking his head in it ever since he lost to Issei. Seriously, losing in less than a second to an eleven years old… is there more humiliation than that?

Looking at his expression, the woman sighed, "Either way, if it's truly as you say, register him for the Medicine Hunt that will take place two days from now."

"Yes, President," He said respectfully as he bowed his head. After raising it, he looked at her asked, "Is there anything more?"

"No, you can go, Issei is waiting for you."

"Then I shall take my leave," Sa Ji said as he hurriedly exited the room, getting as far away from the woman as possible.

Once Sa Ji had left, the woman looked down at her book once more. In it, there was an illustration of Issei along with some info on him.

Looking through the info one more time, she sighed, "You're so mysterious… you suddenly appeared a couple of years ago, and now is already is a recognized martial genius."

She then took a deep breath and looked out of her window, gazing at the sunset.

"Just who are you, Issei?" She muttered softly, lost in thought.

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Sa Ji was currently walking towards the dorm as fast as he could. As far as he was concerned, the further away he was from her the better.

That woman, the third best inner disciple, Sitri Sona, was his boss, along with the scariest person he knew.

They met a couple of years ago, and in less than a week, he joined her group, acting as her errand boy.

At that time, the only reason he joined was because he was infatuated with her cold and aloof look, but he soon came to regret it.

He had to do arduous tasks every day, such as scouting the other groups in school, keeping track of the disciples progress… and his reward? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

But even with all that, he didn't quit. It wasn't that he didn't want to, just that he couldn't. At that time, he had sworn eternal loyalty to the cold woman, and he couldn't just get back on his word.

Oh, how he hated the past him for getting him in this situation…

Thankfully, his tasks decreased considerably ever since Issei entered the school. For some reason, the Sitri girl had extremely high interest in him, specially in luring him to her group.

As such, Sa Ji was in charge of attending to his very wish, just in order that he wouldn't refuse when the invitation arrived.

Sa Ji himself liked looking after Issei much more than his usual jobs, so he hoped that they would never invite Issei. That way, his days would be peaceful…

After a couple more minutes, he finally arrived at the dormitory. Walking to Issei's bed, he saw that he was reading a book about medicine.

Before he could even announce his presence, Issei casually looked up, and with some faked surprise on his face, he said, "Senior Brother Ji! You're back!"

Because Issei's acting skills were extremely believable, Sa Ji truly thought that he looked up by coincidence.

Smiling he said, "Yes, Junior Brother. Either way, I'm wondering something."

"Oh? What is it?"

"Would you like to participate in the Medicine Hunt?"

"Medicine Hunt?" Issei tilted his head to the side slightly. This was no acting, since this was indeed the first time that had heard of such a thing.

"Yes, Medicine Hunt. Although you may not know, there is a mountain called Medicine Peak not too far away from here that the school owns. Once every year, the school elders open it for ten days period so that the inner disciples can enter it and try their luck.

In the mountain, you can find cultivation resources, such as various herbs that help in cultivation and even some high-grade spirit grass!"

"Spirit grass?" Issei said in astonishment. Out of all the cultivation resources that Issei had used in Shinso's castle, spirit grass was by far the best. Furthermore, Shinso only had low to medium grade, and even those had high effects.

Because of all of that, the prospect of using high-grade spirit grass was extremely enticing for the young, unconventional genius.

"Yes, although even with how strong you are, you'd have a hard time getting it," Sa Ji said with a chuckle.

"Huh?" Issei said as he once more tilted his head to the side. He didn't understand what was so hard in obtaining spirit grass. The books he read said that gathering it was just like any other herb.

"Normally, it would be like any other medicine, but the medicine that grow on the Medicine Peak has special properties. They aren't like normal medicine that can simply be collected. You must first subdue them."

"What? Subdue them?" Issei asked with apparent confusion.

"Yes, subdue. The reason for that is because the medicine that grows there has a special properties. Low grades medicine will run away as soon as you try to catch them, medium grade medicine will run underground while high-grade can make themselves invisible and even fight back. Each one of the high-grade ones has the power of a level 4 cultivator of the Nascent Profound Realm."

As soon as he heard that, Issei's eyes widen considerably. Medicine.. running? Fighting back? Invisibility? What kind of bullshit is that?

"Is Senior Brother trying to fool me?" Issei said, rather suspicious. He just couldn't bring himself to believe what Sa Ji had just said. Although he had seen a lot things since coming to the middle realm, he just couldn't imagine a leaf with the power of level 4 cultivator of the Nascent Profound Realm. That was simply inconceivable for him.

"Well, although it might sound difficult to believe, I can assure you that its one hundred percent truth," Sa Ji while looking at Issei's suspicious expression. He couldn't really blame the little genius. Even he didn't believe it when someone told him the first the time he participated.

Seeing that Issei's doubtful expression didn't lessen in the least, Sa Ji sighed, "Well, you'll find out soon enough. Either way, come with me right now. We should register you for the Medicine Hunt and get your participation token."

Although Issei still didn't believe that story about medicine running around and fighting back, he still followed his Senior Brother to the registration grounds to get his token.

Upon arriving at the registration ground, the first thing they was a large plaza that was bustling with people, all wearing the Heavenly Might School's robes.

There were people from various ages, ranging from fifteen to twenty, although there wasn't anyone even close to Issei's age.

After walking to the end of the plaza, they stopped in front of an old man that was currently sited in an old chair, so absolved is his task of writing things in a piece of paper that he didn't even notice Issei and Sa Ji's approach.

"Elder Sun, we would like to participate in the Medicine Hunt," Sa Ji said politely as he broke that old man's concentration, causing him to look up with a slight frown.

He first looked at Sa Ji, and upon seeing that it wasn't a cute girl, looked at the second person, Issei, which caused his eyes to brighten up.

"Oh? What is this cute little girl doing here?" He said curiously as he sent Issei, the girl he thought was cute, a soft stare.

For the first times it happened, Issei wasn't bothered by being mistaken by for a girl. But, seriously, it happened way too often. Even he was starting to get bothered by it. He then made a mental note to try to look more manly in the future.

Hearing that, Sa Ji chuckled before saying, "Oh no, he is Issei, the school newest inner disciple."

"He?" The old man said in surprise, as if the fact that an eleven years old was accepted as an inner disciple was insignificant when compared to Issei's gender.

After looking Issei up and down a couple of times, the old man couldn't help but to mutter, "Such a convincing trap..."

Before Sa Ji and Issei could reply, the old man quickly followed up, "Either way, fill this papers with your info. Afterward, bring them here and you'll receive your tokens."

He then quickly pushed two papers into Sa Ji's hand immediately went back to scribbling something in the same paper as before.

Sa Ji then sighed, handed one paper to Issei and then begun to fill in his information with a pencil, Issei then doing the same.

After that, they both turned it in, receiving a small, blue wooden token.

Afterward, they both headed back to their dorms.

That night, Issei dreamed about being chased by an army of leaves.

 **Read and Review~!**

 **Also, I changed Sona Sitri into Sitri Sona because in the world that Issei is in, the family name is said first.**


	21. No Longer So Mighty, Huh? Run, Run

**Well, only a few messages for the guests.**

 **GraumThe – Don't worry, I don't mind being corrected on my spelling. In fact, I'm quite thankful of it, so no need to feel bad. Also, making mistakes is normal, so don't worry.**

 **Xiaoxi- I don't really plan on throwing away the skills he learned, especially Four Ways Of The Lightning and Heavenly Sword Might!**

* * *

With the blue token on one hand, excitement on his heart and robes on his body, Issei awaited for the start of the Medicine Hunt, Sa Ji resting on a three shadow's not too far away.

Some minutes ago, both of them arrived at the Medicine Peak, only to find it already full of people. No matter where one looked, an ocean of blue robes would be seen.

After arriving, Sa Ji was quick to find the shadow of tree to rest on, while Issei kept standing by his said, to excited to sit down.

The reason for his excitement was none other than the prospect of acquiring spirit grass! Especially high-grade ones!

For a person who coveted cultivation resources more than anything, the prospect of spirit grass was enticing to say the least!

Oh, just how much will I get... were Issei's current thoughts as he looked at the gate in front of him in rapt attention. He was determined to be the first one to enter and the last one to leave! That way, no matter if it was a second more, he would have more time to catch those resources.

Sa Ji, although excited, wasn't nearly as pumped-up as his eleven years old junior. At the moment, he was trying to conserve his energies before going there. At the same time, he was also thinking of ways to help Issei get some grass...

Suddenly, he felt a shudder. His eyes widening, he slowly turned his head around and found cold, elegant eyes glaring at him.

That stare... only one person in the entire world could pull it off – Sitri Sona!

 _Here comes the ice devil,_ Sa Ji thought with a sigh. He could see within her eyes a clear order to come over to her.

Looking at Issei, he was about to tell him that was going to head out a little, but seeing that he was paying way too much attention to the entrance of the Medicine Peak, he decided to just go over to the she-devil.

Carefully lifting himself from the ground, he hurried to meet his boss.

"Boss, do you have any matters with me?" Sa Ji said respectfully, bowing his head a little.

"Yes," Sona began as she coldly looked at her subordinate, "You are not to accompany Issei in the medicine hunt. He must acquire his results by himself. If he manages to get more than ten medium-grade spirit grasses, then I'll invite him to our group."

Nodding his head, Sa Ji said, "As you wish, boss"

Without so much as another word, Sona coldly glanced at Sa Ji before gracefully walking away. Although many people would be ensnared by the sensual sway of her lithe figure that the large robes could barely conceal, with large and round buttocks, all that Sa Ji felt was relief.

Looking at the person he feared the most walking away, Sa Ji felt as if the day had grown brighter. He could swear that the longer he spent around her, the shorter his life would be...

He then walked back to Issei, who was still fixedly staring at the entrance of the mountain. It seemed as if he had not even blinked since Sa Ji had left.

In reality, although Issei seemed to be absorbed in his useless and senseless task of observing the entrance, he was actually highly aware of his surroundings. The moment Sa Ji moved from his position he felt it. He also clearly saw as he talked with the purple-eyed, cold-looking young woman.

 _Who is her..._ Issei wondered, but no answers came to mind. In fact, he only knew one person in the entire school, that being Sa Ji. Given the fact that he spent the better part of his time there cultivating in seclusion, it wasn't too surprising that he didn't really know who that woman was.

Deciding not too delve too deep into it, Issei simply directed his attention back from the entrance, pretending to never have looked away from it.

"Hey, Junior Brother Issei," Sa Ji called out as he slightly tapped Issei's shoulder, garnering his attention.

"What is it, Senior Brother Ji?"

"Well, bad news," Sa Ji said with sigh as he sat down. "I won't be able to help you out on the hunt, so you'll be on your own."

"Huh?" Issei was surprised to say the least. He clearly remembered Sa Ji saying that he would go with him... what could possibly cause such a change? Could it be... that woman? Issei though in his heart as he looked at his Senior Brother.

"Well, there's nothing to be done about it. Well, I'll be leaving soon, so I'll only tell you two things.

Firstly, try to catch at least ten middle-grade spirit grasses. If you do that, I can assure you that something good will happen.

"Secondly, you may lose your life."

Hearing the first sentence, Issei nodded but upon hearing the second one, surprise couldn't help but to arise in his beautiful and feminine features.

Seeing his expression, Sa Ji decided to elaborate, "On the Medicine Hunt, the other disciples will try to acquire more spirit grass, it doesn't matter what it takes. Being killed there is quite a normal occurrence, so please be careful."

Issei then nodded, still in thought. He now understood that the world he was in was ruthless. This reminded him of a sentence that Shinso spoke not too long ago, but he couldn't seem to remember it at the moment...

"Well, that's about it," Sa Ji said, lifting his body up, "Try not to die and good luck." He said as he glanced at him one last time. Although he seemed rather non-nonchalant about the whole situation, he was still worried for his dear junior. After all, they had a rather good friendship.

As he walked away, he could only pray for Issei's safety. Even if he had two hundreds times the guts, he wouldn't dare to disrespect Sitri Sona.

Looking at Sa Ji depart, Issei sighed. In reality, he also wanted to do things alone. That away, he would have more liberty and would be able to move without restraint, employing his martial skill whenever he see fit.

As he looked at the entrance, he had also been thinking of ways to convince Sa Ji to let him go alone, but now it seemed to have been for naught.

"Well, this works quite well for me," Issei smiled lightly.

Soon after, the entrance opposed and all the disciples rushed in, some even stepping on top of others or punching their way through the multitude of disciples trying to enter the Medicine Peak through its narrow entrance.

Issei, on the other hand, faced no such problems. Because of his small body and flexible limbs, he was able to squirm his way through the crowd, arriving in perfect, although a bit disheveled condition at the other side

As he gazed at the scene in front of him, Issei breathed in a huge breath, taking in the pure and clean oxygen,

He was in a large forest, with tall tress and wide bushes. A sea of different variations of green could be seen on all directions, making the person think that all colors except green had temporarily ceased to exist.

But, sadly, Issei couldn't really admire the landscape for long as the are began to fill with disciples.

Silently cursing at this crowd of barbarians, Issei placed on foot on the ground and secretly using the third way of the lightning, he rushed into the forest in the blink of an eye, disappearing so fast that no one even noticed him.

After a couple of minutes of non-stop running, Issei stopped and looked around. From his estimation, it would take the other some hours to reach his position, so he could safely search for cultivation resources there.

Looking at the ground, he began to cast his gaze around before focusing on a strand of dark green grass that seemed to stand out from the others.

That strand of grass was nothing other than a middle grade spirit grass!

Looking at it, he approached it slowly, not daring to make a sound. Although he didn't quite believe Sa Ji's words of grass being able to escape on its own, it wouldn't hurt to be cautious. As they say, better be safe than sorry.

Issei, who was only a couple of feet away from the grass, then jumped forward, aiming to take the grass into his hands in a single sweep.

How could he have possibly imagined that instead of being captured, it would jump up before burrowing deep beneath the earth, reappearing a few seconds later a couple meters away.

"What the...?" Issei muttered as he once more tried to catch it, only for it to repeat the same process.

"It seems that Sa Ji really wasn't messing with me, huh?" Issei said in excitement, slightly shivering. This was the perfect opportunity to test out the limits of his speed!

Gathering lightning in his feet, Issei activated the third way of the lightning; movement, and dashed towards the newly risen spirit grass.

Surprisingly, it managed to escape again and again and again...

On is twentieth time, Issei's expression was one of impatience. He had already tried to catch it twenty times, always meeting with complete failure!

Sighing, Issei then looked at the plan, a stubborn look shining in his eyes.

"Spirit grass whose name I don't know nor do I care for, you shall be the first one after the kind dummy to taste my full power. You should be honored," said Issei in a solemn expression as he snapped his fingers.

At that moment, his light brown eyes turned into an ethereal blue with lightning flashing across them, his long black hair also becoming blue, circled with lightning. It then whipped about as the wind produced by his presence twisted his robes.

His figure right now no longer seemed like the shy eleven years old from before... in fact, he didn't seem like someone from this world... he seemed like... the embodiment of lightning!

His eyes narrowing, Issei moved forward. In a second, he disappeared. In the other, he appeared on the position the spirit grass originally was. The difference was that at the moment, the spirit grass was now in his palms.

Looking down at it, Issei coldly laughed, "No longer so mighty, huh? Run, run."

Indeed, as expected from a slight sadist with a vengeful personality... not even plants can escape his wrath...

Putting it on the Sky Poison Pearl, Issei was about to continue searching, but stopped as an idea came to his mind.

At that moment, he was lightning and lightning was him, which meant...

Immediately, he sat down cross-legged and placed his left hand on the ground. Lightning then left his body through his body by his left hand, entering the earth and quickly expanding withing it, sending wave after wave of lightning.

After a couple of seconds, Issei opened his eyes and got up. He then looked around once more before smirking. He then took a step forward and in that instant he disappeared, becoming a streak of blue light.

If anyone was to look at the scene, all they would see would be a flash of blue light traveling through the area at high speeds, bringing destruction wherever he went.

In reality, Issei was simply running, using lightning to bolster his speed. The problem was that he was so fast that people would only be able to see the lightning that was left behind him, his body melting with the landscape.

After a couple of minutes, the blue streak of light came to a stop, immediately becoming like Issei once again.

On the young eleven years old boy's face, intense happiness could be seen. That was because just now, he had managed to catch over twenty five middle-grade spirit grasses. Such a profit... was more than huge!

Calming his heart down, he slowly sat down and began to refine grass after grass, his spiritual power gradually rising.

 **Read and Review~!**


	22. First Kill

For the next eight days, Issei continued picking middle-grade spirit grass without stopping. Ever since refining them that first time, he came to the conclusion that it would be more time-efficient to catch all of them first and then refine them continuously.

On Issei's bag, there were already over one thousand and seventy five hundreds spirit grasses. From his estimations, that would be barely enough to fill half of the spiritual power necessary to go up a level.

Yes, half a level. Such an amount could probably make a person of the Elementary Profound Realm go all the way to the True Profound Realm, but Issei? Not even a trifling level.

It had to be said that Issei was simply a machine of wasting cultivation resources!

Issei then sighed as he picked another spirit grass, still in Lightning Incarnation mode.

For the past eight days, Issei didn't even bother exiting the Lightning Incarnation mode. That was because, that was exactly his true form and appearance.

When he enters that mode, the amount of spiritual energy he spends is the same on his normal state. In fact, he had to constantly channel spiritual power in order to keep in check his lightning incarnation.

In order words, his normal appearance was in fact the false one and his true appearance was the one of the lightning incarnation.

Also, when using in the Lightning Incarnation, he had numerous benefits. For one, he could freely control lightning like his own limbs, and his own limbs also gained some properties of lightning.

His limbs would be much more flexible, much stronger and much faster. Furthermore, each attack he sent would be infused with lightning. That was a huge advantage!

But, the biggest advantage of all was that he could use the lightning to sense the environment. By sending lightning to the earth, he could make it search through wide areas in a couple of seconds and then transmit information to him.

That was similar to the spirit sense that people with spirit power had. But, the difference was that they would naturally sense their surroundings, while Issei had to use lightning to do so. Nevertheless, it was still a huge advantage.

Either way, it was because of his constant use of the lightning to scout the surroundings that he was able to acquire so many middle-grade spirit grasses. If it wasn't for that, how was he supposed to search for them when they went underground?

But, all in all, although Issei had many middle-grade spirit grasses in the Sky Poison Pearl, he had only one high-grade spirit grass.

That was because, just as Sa Ji said, the high-grade spirit grass could fight back! Furthermore, its power of the fourth level of the Nascent Profound Realm was no joke. It was only one level below Issei, after all.

Well, although Issei could easily deal with them, he figured that it would be much faster to just catch middle-grade spirit grass. In the time it took to grab one high-grade, he could grab ten middle-grades!

And, in terms of assistance to cultivation, the effects of the high-grade were only the double of the middle-grades ones.

As such, Issei didn't bother much with them and instead focused on the middle-grade ones.

"Well, I'll take a quick rest and then continue," Issei said as he sat down on the ground, not exiting the Lightning Incarnation mode.

Just as he was about to take a short nap, his eyes widened. His lightnings just sensed that someone was approaching area.

"Crap," Issei quickly said as he immediately exited the Lightning Incarnation mode. He had no desire to have his trump card be seen by outsiders, and because of that he only picked areas devoid of people. How was he supposed to expect that someone would actually wonder around there?

Quickly standing up, Issei pretended to be minding his own business as someone emerged from withing the woods.

"Oh? Someone's here?" Issei said in faked surprise, his feminine face seemingly pure and innocent.

"Huh?" The newcomer exclaimed as he took notice of Issei. His first thought was to ask himself what such a cute young girl was doing here.

His second thought was – Jackpot!

"Aiya, what's this?" The newcomer said. He was young man, roughly eighteen years old with short blonde haired and a plain face. There wasn't anything really remarkable of him aside from a scar that ran through from his left eye down to his chins.

"What are you doing here, little girl?" The newcomer asked once more as he walked closer to Issei.

Issei, on the other hand, clenched his fist lightly. It was starting to bother him a little. Why must everyone mistake him for a girl?! Even him had his pride as a male! That was simply trampling on his masculinity!

Sighing to calm himself down and once more making a vow to look manlier, Issei managed to show a bashful smile as he said, "This Junior Brother is Issei, a new inner disciple. I wonder who Senior Brother is?"

The newcomer, who was approaching, stopped dead on his tracks. His eyes widened, "Junior Brother? Inner disciple?"

After thinking a little, he finally remembered the news of the eleven years old who won the tournament that happened not too long ago.

 _Could it be him?_ He asked in his heart as he eyes Issei carefully. _Well, not that it matters. I'll just do what I always do and be on my way._

Extending his left hand, a haughty expression appeared on his face, "Well, Junior Brother, I must say that you are really unlucky to have met with me, Wu Hai, today."

Widening his eyes a little in surprise and looking at his extended hand, Issei had a feeling that things would no end well. "Unlucky? Why?"

Smiling darkly, he said, "Well, I'm in a need of spirit grass, and you seem to have some with you, so hand me your cosmos sack and I'll be on my way. Otherwise, you die," He said calmly, as if he had rehearsed that speech before. In reality, he had.

As soon as he heard the guy's sentences, Issei's eyes narrowed. Seems like he truly was on spot when he sensed that something was wrong. Taking a small step back, Issei cautiously analyzed Wu Hai. He seemed to be of the seventh level of the Nascent Profound Realm.

"I'm sorry, brother, but I can't," Issei said calmly as he steadily increased the distance between them. Although he was certain that he would win in a fight, Issei wasn't really in the mood for that. Furthermore, he would probably have to silence him later, something that Issei had never done. He was still an alien to the concept of killing.

"Oh?" Wu Hai said with faked sadness, "I see, well, that's too bad..." He muttered before his eyes suddenly grew dark. "I'll take it by force them!" Immediately pressing his weigh on the ground, Wu Hai dashed forward towards Issei.

"Dammit," Issei cursed under his breath. At the moment, he could easily escape either by using the Third Way Of The Lightning – Movement or entering Lightning Incarnation. Sadly, he could do neither, since that would blow his cover.

He also new that in terms of speed, if he did not use those abilities, he would have no way to outrun this cultivator who was on the seventh level of the Nascent Profound Realm.

At that moment, Issei cursed slightly once more before resoluteness flashed in his eyes. At that moment, he decided to fight!

Bringing out Gan Jiang and Mo Ye, Issei dashed towards the approaching Wu Hai, also employing a martial skill, the Heavenly Strike!

* bang! *

A loud sound reverberated through the forest as they both clashed and were sent flying away in opposite directions.

Issei managed to stabilize himself in air and fall smoothly in the ground, but the same couldn't be said about Wu Hai. He was completely trashed on the ground, his position being so that his head were facing his own buttocks.

Looking over at him, Issei was about to run away but was suddenly stopped by his voice, "Trying to run? Just you wait, I'll call my senior brothers over and they'll deal with you!"

Stopping dead in his tracks, Issei slowly moved back to face him, "What did you say?"

"You heard what I said!" The guy who had just managed to disentangle himself got up from the ground and looked at Issei disdainfully, "As soon as you leave this place, you are dead!"

Looking at Wu Hai and what he said, various thoughts passed through Issei's mind. At the moment, he knew that the guy was no bluffing. That was an instinct that Issei had, and it had never failed him before.

As such, what could he do? The moment he went out, not only him but also Sa Ji could get hurt. Although he was capable of handling someone in the third True Profound Realm from his estimations, who was to assure him that this guy's contacts weren't above that?

At that moment, Issei knew he had only one choice left. It was to kill him!

But, at the same moment, he also tried to fight against that idea. For him, he didn't think that he could take a life. Although he was smart, at heart, he was still young. For a young teen to take a life... that was something difficult.

As he weighed his possibilities, Issei finally came to the conclusion that there was no other option. If he didn't kill this guy, he could end up endangering his and Sa Ji's own life.

Which was more important, that guy or his life? His!

Which was more more important, that guy's or his safety?" His!

Steeling his nerves, a murderous glint shined through his eyes. He had decided that he would kill him! There was no turning back now! It's a swim or sink situation!

Grasping both of his blades in his hand, he took in a deep breath and calmed his mind. He then adjusted his senses and sharpened his thoughts.

At that moment, if anyone were to gaze at him, they wouldn't have the impression of a weak child, but instead they would think that they were looking at an almighty sharp and powerful blade that was just unsheathed.

Twirling Gan Jiang and Mo Ye on his fingers, as if they were dancing a beautiful and deadly dance, Issei took a step forward, his aura of resoluteness increasing.

Seeing Issei walking forward with such conviction, Wu Hai couldn't help but to take a step back, "What are you doing?!"

Turning a deaf ear to his screams, Issei continued walking forward, his blades dancing and dancing as they passed through his fingers.

Then, all of the sudden, they stopped dancing. It was time!

Instantly, Issei gripped both blades and dashed forward like a fierce tiger jumping on his prey. As he ran, lightning built up around him and his blade as he entered the Lightning Incarnation mode!

Just as he was about to clash with the shaking Wu Hai who was so sacred that couldn't even move, both of his arms dashed forward, making Gan Jiang and Mo Ye pierce his heart simultaneously.

Death! In one strike, a life was forever taken!

Issei then watched with both swords still stuck on Wu Hai's body as his soul left his body. His heart stopped beating, the brain stopped working, the blood stopped flowing. Everything stopped once and forever, never to be awaken again.

As Wu Hai's scared eyes grew dark and soulless, Issei's own eyes showed inner struggle.

 _I actually did it.._. he thought in surprise as he felt Wu Hai's body fall down towards him.

 _I killed someone..._

 _I actually killed someone..._

 _I took a life..._

In Issei's head, countless thoughts flowed through his mind and heart like a hurricane. They kept coming, each time with more impact and each time, Issei felt a hollowness inside him.

When one kills someone, he doesn't only take one life. They destroy the future of the person, their children and grandchildren that could have existed would die before even living first. It wasn't taking a single life, it was taking many lifes.

When one kills someone, he changes the world. The world that could have been, no longer will be. He changes the future and present, the past becoming history.

Issei at the moment understood all of this, the hollowness inside him growing wider.

 _Why does it feel so hollow?_

 _Why does it feel so sad?_

 _He had to die, yet... why do I feel like this?_

Issei then fell down to the ground. His eyes hollow and soulless as an inner battle took place inside him.

As more and more dark thoughts took control of his mind, he suddenly remembered something that happened some years ago.

He was in his bed, looking over at Shinso who had come to wish him good night. Shinso was about to leave the room, but stopped at the door, looked over at Issei and sighed.

Walking back to the bed, Shinso looked Issei on the eyes.

"Issei, I must tell you something."

"What is it?" The small, eight years old Issei asked in surprise.

"Although it may not make much sense to you now, I feel like it's time I told you something about this world.

"The world we are in is not a kind one. This world abides by the rule of the jungle, the survivor of the fittest.

"This is a world where the strong prey on the weak. A world where the strong are gods and the weak are trash.

"In order to survive in such a world, you must understand something. Killing isn't an option. It's a necessity.

"Only by killing would one be able to rise in power. Don't be afraid to kill..."

Issei: "..."

Seeing his apprentice's blank expression, Shinso sighed, "I don't expect you to understand this right now. You'll understand when you take your first life. Only then would this words make sense.

"Either way, forget about this for now. When it's time, you'll naturally remember it. Good night, Issei."

At the moment, the words didn't make much sense, but to the current Issei, he finally understood.

Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, Issei sat down cross-legged. He then opened his eyes and looked at the corpse of Wu Hai.

At that moment, he understood that in order to be the strongest, he would have to kill! Kill is a must!

One must grow used to it in order to rise in power.

Wu Hai was his first kill, but would definitely not be his last!

At that moment, the war inside Issei calmed down as enlightenment flashed through his eyes. He then begun to meditate.

 **Read and Review~!**


	23. Saint Spirit Grass

**Guys, just an announcement. In the previous chapters, I changed the name of the Profound Sky Country, the other one that is near the Country Of The Nine Provinces that Issei is in to Blue Wind Country. Also, I added new countries to the scenario, they are the ones that are part of the Profound Sky Alliance. This was all explained in chapter three, but I figured I should post the change again here so you wouldn't have to read it again.**

 **Either way, as to make things simple, here's the explanation. The continent that they are in is called Profound Sky Continent. It is then divided into other countries, and one of them is the Country Of the Nine Provinces. Out of all the countries, the Country Of The Nine Provinces is the only one that isn't part of the Profound Sky Alliance. This alliance is lead by the Divine Phoenix Country, the strongest of all the other countries. They are all connected by land, but the only one who has a frontier with the Country Of The Nine Provinces is the Blue Wind Country.**

 **That's about it. Also, each country has their own Imperial Family which leads them while the Country Of The Nine Provinces is the only one that is lead by a dinasty instead of an Imperial Family.**

 **Also, I'm not going to post a chapter tomorrow, sorry for the inconvenience.**

 **Finally, some replies.**

 **GrootTheScrub- Thanks a lot for the review! I greatly appreciate it! Also, you're welcome.**

 **Also, if you guys find any spelling or grammar mistakes, please PM me so I can fix it. In reality, I don't have a lot of time to proof-read, so I can't fix all mistakes. As such, please don't hesitate to tell me. I would rather that you PM'ed me, but if you want to, you can write a review.**

 **Either way, here is today's chapter.**

* * *

As he meditated, he didn't do what most people would upon their first kill.

They would normally try to ward off the feeling, sealing it deep within them. That was indeed a way to get used to killing, but the wrong way.

If one were to simply seal their own feelings deep within, there was bound to be a time when these feelings would resurface with full force, something that could lead even to that person's death.

Issei had understood all of this during his period of enlightenment. As such, he did something that most people wouldn't dare.

While sitting cross-legged, he continuously repeated the feeling he had felt at that time. The feeling of pain, the feeling of hollowness, how it felt to take a soul. To destroy the future and present.

He repeated it again and again, trying to experience it as most as possible. What Issei was doing was something that most people couldn't. He was forcefully getting used to killing.

Humans could only manage to reach such a high-position in the world, comparable to elves and vampires, because of their ability to adapt to diverse occasions.

Place a man in the desert? His skin will grow dark to withstand the sun, his body will start using water more efficiently, he will develop a resistance to sand..

What Issei was doing was exactly making use of the human's innate gift to adapt in order to grow used to killing.

As such, the more times he replayed the feeling, the last he felt it. He was gaining a resistance to the act of taking a life, becoming more and more resilient.

After seven hours, Issei finally opened his eyes.

They were no longer the same as before. In them, there was an extra glint of ruthlessness and coldness.

Shinso's words from before had greatly impacted him. He now made the decision to kill whoever deserved to die. He would no longer be lenient with his enemies!

Obviously, just that seven hours weren't nearly enough for Issei to develop complete resistance, although now he was much closer to it.

He understood that in order to be able to kill without batting an eye, to kill without remorse, to be ruthless, he would have to kill more and more. Only then would he be able to overcome the penalty of taking a life.

That was Issei's ultimate objective for the moment – becoming completely resistant to killing.

He now knew that in order to grow stronger, in order to reach the peak, one must be used to killing. His goal was reaching the peak in order to make Shinso proud, so, naturally, he would have to get used to killing.

Looking back at the body, Issei sighed. He then stood up and walked to the corpse of the person. Reaching down, he grabbed his cosmos sack.

Issei, obviously, wasn't the type of good guy who would let the person die with all their belongings. The guy was already dead, it wasn't as if it was going to be of use to him, right?

Even then, Issei didn't forget to profit from the situation.

Looking inside the cosmos sack, he found ten high-grade spirit grass, fifty middle-grade spirit grass and seventy two low-grade spirit grass.

Aside from that, he also found some medicines for treating wounds, a Nascent Profound Realm grade sword and some aphrodisiacs.

Keeping everything and throwing the aphrodisiacs away, Issei placed the new cosmos sack right on the side of his original cosmos sack.

Giving one last glance at the corpse of Wu Hai, Issei sighed.

He was already in Lightning Incarnation mode, since he entered it on the last battle and didn't bother to exit it.

(Read the author notes. This time they have important info that is crucial to the story.)

Lifting up his right hand, Issei condensed a ball of lightning. It was pure azure ball, with power of complete annihilation.

Casually throwing the ball towards the body, he walked away. Just as he took his third step, he heard the sound of the lightning colliding with something. Not even looking back, he calmly continued on his way.

On the place Wu Hai's corpse had been before, there were only black ashes. Soon after, a wind came and scattered it throughout the forest.

At that moment, there wasn't even the slightest proof that a murder just took place. Because of Issei's complete control over his lightning, that ball from before only affected the corpse. The grass the corpse was in wasn't affected in the least.

What better way was there to get rid of evidences if not completely destroying them? That was exactly what Issei did.

Although it didn't look like it, Issei knew that with his luck that some times seemed heavenly and some times back-stabbed him, there was definitely a chance that he would be implicated for that murder, although he didn't really know how.

As such, he wasn't about to take any chances and decided to simply make Wu Hai forever 'disappear'.

After walking for a bit, Issei once more continued his search for middle-grade spirit grass, only that this time he was much farther away from the areas that people stayed at.

At that moment, he was on the threshold of the territory of the middle-grade spirit grass. If he were to cross it, he would enter the area that the high-grade spirit grass lived in.

Looking around and not finding any spirit grass, Issei sat down and sent some lightning to the ground, calmly waiting for it to search the entire perimeter.

Just as the lightning was walking casually going around underneath the earth, it sensed something along with Issei.

Widening his eyes, Issei discovered that not too far from him, there were over a hundred and fifty energy signatures fighting!

Deciding to take a look, Issei headed to that location. It was on the high-grade spirit grass territory.

While taking cover behind a tree, Issei peeked at the scene before him.

A three meter tall huge plant-like thing, filled with purple thorns had its mouth open which was full of teeth. It was emitting an oppressing aura from its body, aura of the seventh level of the Nascent Profound Realm.

"That is Saint Spirit Grass!" Issei exclaimed in surprise in a low voice.

Saint Spirit Grass was an existence about high-grade spirit grass. Each of them had the potency of fifty high-grade spirit grass when refining it!

Furthermore, there were over twenty of them.

That meant that right in front of him was... the equivalent of one thousand high grade spirit grass, which was also equal to two thousand middle-grade spirit grass!

That was more than what Issei had collected in these past eight days. Such an amount, if he were to refine all of them, he would probably be able to breakthrough into the sixth level of the Nascent Profound Realm!

Furthermore, there were over two hundred high-grade spirit grass on the ground, which means four hundred middle-grade spirit grasses!

Looking at the situation, Issei was excited beyond precedence. He knew that he really struck it luck this time. Furthermore, his powers were specialized in taking on a large amount of enemies at the same time. It was as if this situation was tailor-made for him!

He then searched around the crowd of Saint Spirit grass and high-grade spirit grass, wondering who provoked their ire.

Much surprisingly, it was single person. Furthermore, it was a girl that seemed to be in the late teens with dark black in a short bob hair-cut and violet eyes.

Around her, the aura of the ninth level of the Nascent Profound Realm surrounded her.

Surrounded by hundreds of enemies, with a rapier in hand, she continued thrusting forward at the enemies, each strike killing at least one, but it was obvious that she was in a disadvantage and would soon fall.

Furthermore, there seemed to be water flowing around her, aiding her attacks, increasing their rage and potency.

Eyes widening, Issei recognized that water as the rank 5 martial skill, Water Fury!

As he looked at the young woman, he felt that he had seen her before. Not even a couple of seconds passed before his eyes widened. She was the young woman who was talking with Senior Brother Sa Ji back then!

Since she was talking with Sa Ji, Issei figured that she wasn't an enemy. Since that was the case, he didn't hesitate and jumped down, falling at the side of the young woman.

Looking at Issei, before she could even widen her eyes, she watched as he sliced at a spirit grass that was about to strike her back.

With surprise, she discovered that if Issei had not arrived, that blow could have severely injured her!

Looking back at the young woman, Issei said, "Need help?"

Strangely enough, her answer was another question, "It's you?"

"Hmm... you know me?" Issei asked as he struck at another incoming high-grade spirit grass, saving her again.

Looking at the young boy who had saved her life twice, Sona cursed. She didn't want to drag Issei into this. In her eyes, he would only end up as a burden for her.

"It doesn't matter. Just get away from here as soon as possible!" She exclaimed as she got back to thrusting at high-grade spirit grasses.

Sighing, Issei shook his head, "No can do."

"What?"

"You see, I'm rather interested on those Saint Spirit Grasses, so how about this? I'll help you deal with them and at the end, I'll grab all the Saint grade ones and you keep the high-grade ones. How's that?"

Sona widened her eyes as she listened to Issei's explanation. Did he truly think that he could deal with them?

"Hmm... so, do we have a deal?" Issei asked, his eyes narrowing as he once more killed another spirit grass.

Looking at Issei, Sona thought things over. She had wanted to know how strong Issei was and this was a golden opportunity! How could she miss it?

"Okay, we have deal," She said, the surprise no longer on her eyes, replaced by her usual cold glare.

Seeing that she accepted, Issei didn't hold back anymore. Dashing forward at the crowd of high-grade spirit grass, he started spinning as he killed spirit grass after spirit grass.

His movements were fluid and beautiful, as if he was calmly dancing. At the same time, his swords flowed around, sending cuts, slashes and stabs.

Dancing around the battlefield, bringing destruction wherever he went, Issei quickly decimated an entire crowd of fifty high-grade spirit grass in an astonishing speed.

The most surprising of all was that Sona didn't feel any fluctuations of usage of spiritual power, which meant that he was killing them with technique and strength alone.

Well, what she didn't know was that he had previously done a partial Lightning Incarnation transformation, removing the restrictions he placed on his fingers. As such, he was able to internally channel lightning into both swords who were at the tenth-level of the Nascent Profound Realm without Sona noticing.

Because of that, each strike that Issei sent would electrify the target internally, adding an extra layer of damage. Also, since the electricity only acted internally, Sona wasn't able to notice it. It was only because of that that Issei managed to kill one with each strike.

If he were to resort to techniques, it wouldn't be so useful, since Issei created his swords techniques with the sole purpose of fighting humans. They focused at striking at fatal and vital points, meridians and acupuncture points.

Such technique was useless against spirit grass, since their anatomy was completely different. Furthermore, if he were to resort to strength alone, he definitely wouldn't be able to kill them. After all, he only had the physique of an eleven years old who looked like he was ten.

There was no way he could compare his strength to practitioners of the same level who were in their late teens.

As such, only by relying on his lightning, Issei managed to bring forth destruction to the battlefield.

 **Read and Review~!**


	24. Nascent Bead

A monster.

There was no other sentence that could possibly describe Issei, aside from a monster.

As he walked through the battlefield, death followed. No matter what he faced, an army of high-grade spirit grasses or even Saint Spirit grasses, the result was the same – Instant Death!

Like a Grim Reaper that descended to the battlefield, wielding two beautiful sword like scythes, Issei forced his way through the enemy ranks, killing faster than you could blink.

Sona, although being on the ninth level of the Nascent Profound Realm, could do nothing aside from standing on the same spot, looking at Issei in a daze.

Her, with the status of the third best inner disciple, was flabbergasted to the point of not being able to move. Never in her life did she imagine that Issei was so...

Monstrous!

Only after Issei managed to kill most of the high-grade spirit grasses and Saint Spirit grasses did she break from her stupor.

Glancing at Issei in amazement once more, she took out her rapier and started to thrust forward at the scarce amount of enemies left.

Sadly, her killing speed was incomparable to Issei. During the amount of times she took to kill one, he killed seven. The difference was to too steep.

Looking at the difference in speed, her competing spirit was ignited. Clenching her teeth, she decided to go all out. She wasn't going to lose to an eleven years old kid now; that was tantamount to throwing your face away!

"Water Flowers Annihilation!" Sona brought her rapier forward, concentrating her spiritual power around her before using one of her best offensive martial skills, water dance, a rank 4 martial skill.

Immediately, like blooming flowers, water begun to appear around her in the air. They started with small drops, but as her spiritual power flowed into them, they grew bigger and bigger until it finally turned into lilies made of water.

Those lilies surrounded her, flowing around in circles a couple of times, before striking forward at the enemies, each one killing one.

Even while the lilies were being sent, a second wave of lilies came to life, charging forward. And so did the third, forth, fifth and sixth wave.

The battlefield was now drenched in water because of her barrage of attacks. Issei's part, however, was empty.

Because of the wind currents caused by his sword, the water drops couldn't even dream of making their way to his area. It was as if a tall mountain, that reached the heavens, was there, forever blocking their path.

They could only settle to falling on the area surrounding Issei, not managing to even come close to him.

The young genius, although seemingly fighting with all his concentration, had been focusing on Sona all along. Fighting like this was already engraved into his muscles and bones, his body moved almost as if on his own.

He was more interested in the fight between the mysterious girl and the spirit grasses. At first, she was simply standing on the same spot, but she soon became a barrage of attacks.

If that was all, Issei wouldn't have bothered with her. The reason why he was focusing on her was because of her martial skill, Water Flowers Annihilation.

Although it wasn't nearly as strong as his Four Ways Of The Lightning, which had evolved into the True Way Of The Lightning, it was still interesting. Issei saw that such a skill had potential and that the reason why it couldn't show it was because of its user.

Her comprehension of the skill was simply too shallow!

Issei, as such, was already thinking of ways to acquire that skill from her. To him, it was already wasted by being on her hands, so him learning it and showing its true potential would actually be an act of kindness.

Furthermore, that skill fitted quite nicely with his True Way Of The Lightning. He could use the water to increase the range and power of his lightning attacks. Furthermore, he could fuse his lightning balls with the water lilies, creating true killing weapons.

In his genius mind, thousands upon thousands of ideas surged by the second. But, most important of all, for them to come true, there was a prerequisite; getting the skill!

After a few minutes, the battlefield was empty, except for the two youths.

Issei was calmly looking at the battlefield as if looking at a treasure trove, eying all of the precious Saint Grade Spirit grasses lying on the ground. Thankfully, after being defeated, their size would decrease, becoming the same size as all other spirit grasses.

There wasn't even a drop of sweat on his forehead, and his breathing was calm. In fact, what he just did didn't waste his energy at all.

Because of spending so much time in his Lightning Incarnation mode, his body begun to adapt to lightning even more and also grew sturdier. Furthermore, his stamina increased by leaps and bounds.

Sadly, those changed were only interior. If one looked at his exterior, he still looked like a bashful little girl, something that annoyed him greatly.

Seriously, how come no matter how hard he trained, he would only get more feminine? What kind of twisted, sick, joke was this?

Was this a curse of the heavens? He could only wonder what kind of atrocities he committed in his previous life to deserve this...

But, still, Issei managed to calm down his anguishes. At the moment, he needed to calmly collect his spoils. He could always whine about his appearance later on.

Well, while Issei was looking like he just woke up from a good night of rest, it must be said that Sona wasn't really faring that well,

She was already sitting on the ground, circulating the spiritual energy inside her the fastest she could. During her fight, she spent a great deal of spiritual power to keep up with Issei's killing spree. Although she was currently drenched in sweat and devoid of spiritual power, to her, it was worth it.

At the very least, she could still keep her face. Because, if she had lost to an eleven years old kid with a cultivation lowers than her by four levels, how could she call herself a proud member of the Sitri family?

Sadly for her, the competition only existed on her mind. To Issei, he was just casually killing the spirit grasses, completely disregarding the fact that Sona was trying to keep up with him.

If he was to get serious, there was no way in hell that she would be able to keep up.

Never mind the speed of his swords, if her were to use the full power of his Lightning Incarnation mode, he could wipe out the entire battlefield in a matter of seconds.

Also, he could still use the poison withing the Sky Poison Pearl.

All in all, it could be said that Issei had many methods to 'clearing' out the 'trash'. If he so wanted, he could flatten the whole area.

Sadly, because of Sona, an eye-whiteness, he couldn't do so. He wasn't really prepared to reveal to the world how powerful he was. He would only do so when he was powerful enough to take the place of the number one disciple.

As Issei looked around the battlefield, his gaze came to rest on Sona.

Although it wouldn't be really hard to grab her cosmos sack with her on that state, he wasn't really willing to do so.

Although Issei was shameless, cruel and cold, he still wasn't about to steal from someone that did him no harm.

During his killing spree, he came up with a rather good plan. Since Sa Ji knew Sona, than it could be expected that he also knew her living quarters.

As such, Issei planned to ask Sa Ji for directions, go there at night and then find the martial skill scroll. According to his calculations, for him to remember all the contents of the scroll, it would take half an hour, give or take.

As such, he was confident that he would be able to just read it in her room, place it back on where he found it and go back to his room.

With that plan in mind, Issei didn't bother staying around that place any long. He then walked around and started to casually get his Saint Spirit Grasses.

After gathering all twenty of them, he placed them all in the Sky Poison Peal. He then turned to look at the meditating Sona, "Senior Sister, my job here is done. I have left all of the high-grade spirit grasses for you."

And with that, he started walking away.

"Wh-" Sona immediately opened her eyes the moment that Issei said that, "Wait!"

Halting his steps, Issei looked back, "What is it, Senior Sister?"

"Are you just going to leave like that?" Sona said incredulously. Even she, who was normally stable and cold, could not help but to be surprised. He arrived, said a few words, killed a bunch of spirit grasses, said a few more words, gathered his spoils and went away. Who the hell does that?

"What? Is there something I'm forgetting?" Issei said while looking at her puzzledly.

"Yes, there is..." Sona begun, but she then noticed that it truly was nothing that he missed. In reality, what she wanted was to talk with him a little and determine his personality.

His strength was above satisfactory, so all that was left was to check on his personality. If it was a good one, than she would immediately invite him to her group.

Looking around, Sona desperately tried to search for something that cold make him stay. That was when, from the corner of her eyes, she caught sight of something shiny beneath a small patch of grass.

It was a small, round, purple object, a bead. It was the same size as a pear, and it contained a high amount of spiritual energy.

Seeing that, her eyes widen considerably.

A Nascent Bead!

From all kind of medicines, beads were undoubtedly the cream of the crop (The best). Beads always possessed extremely high spiritual power inside them, something more than useful for cultivation.

Beads were separated in categories just like cultivation realms. Beads suitable for cultivators of the Nascent Profound Realm were the Nascent Beads, the ones suitable for cultivators of the True Profound Realm were the true beads and so on...

Of course, there wasn't a rule that Nascent Profound Realm cultivators could only refine (Refine will be used for when a cultivators eats a bead or medicine. They then 'refine' the spiritual power within them into their own.) Nascent Beads. It was just that the amount of spiritual power in a Nascent Bead was relatively similar to that of a cultivator of a Nascent Profound Realm.

If a cultivator of the Nascent Profound Realm, were, for example, to refine an Earth Bead, then he could probably jump into the True Profound Realm.

As such, the higher the level of the bead, the higher the increase in cultivation. But, obviously, there were limitations.

Just like medicines, constant use of beads could make the medicine stagnant in the future because the spiritual power acquired by refining the bead would not be really pure. Furthermore, before a cultivator can increase a realm, he must first comprehend the essence of the next realm.

For example, before a cultivator of the Nascent Profound Realm could step into the True Profound Realm, he must first understand the essence of the True Profound Realm. He must understand the change in his spiritual power and how it affects them. Only then could a cultivator make a breakthrough.

But, if one were to rely on medicines and beads, the situation would be different. The spiritual power of the bead or medicine would forcefully increase your cultivation, and even if you did not understand the following realm, you would still breakthrough into it.

At the start, you could use it to breakthrough the realms, and it is even possible to reach the Earth Profound Realm using that method. But, the problem was that, to breakthrough into the Sky Profound Realm, even if you used all the beads and medicines in the world, you had to understand the Sky Profound Realm.

And, how would one understand the Sky Profound Realm if he didn't understand the previous one and only managed to get stronger due to medicines? Because of all of that, if one overused the beads and medicines, their future would be limited and they would not be able to reach the Sky Profound Realm. They would forever be doomed to be an Earth Profound Realm cultivator!

As such, most cultivators only refined beads and medicines in moderation, being careful to stop when they were about to step into a new realm and only taking medicines when they fully understood the following realm.

Because of that, beads of extremely high-rank that could forcefully greatly increase one's cultivation wasn't truly valuable to the cultivators of lower realms that cared for their future achievements.

 **Read and Review~!**


	25. Water Devil Alliance

As Sona looked at the Nascent Bead, an inner discussion appeared within her mind.

That bead could greatly increase her cultivation, and since she already understood the True Profound Realm, it would help her breakthrough into it. With that, her strength would increase by leaps and bounds.

On the other hand, that bead could be used to pull Issei into her group.

At the moment, she was truly conflicted. She truly couldn't figure out the best course of action...

Looking between the Bead and Issei, who was still waiting to know what he had missed, she finally came to a conclusion.

She then walked over to the bead and picked it up.

After that, she walked towards Issei and upon arriving close to him, she stopped and extended her hand.

"This is what you forgot," Sona said as she showed the Nascent Bead to Issei.

Sona was currently gambling. If Issei didn't try to steal the bead from her, than he passed the personality test. But, if he tried, then she would only be able to blame her bad judgment.

When Issei looked at the bead, his eyes widened greatly.

That bead... he could feel the power of eighty saint spirit grasses within it!

Coupling with his own twenty Saint Spirit grasses, that would equal one hundred Saint Spirit grasses.

Such an amount, that would probably be enough for him to breakthrough into the Sixth Level of the Nascent Profound Realm and even have a little remaining!

He then remembered her words and his eyes widened. He forgot it? So that meant that she was going to give it to him...? This... humans were greedy by nature, there's no way that she would willingly give out something as precious as that to a stranger, right? Furthermore, he had not noticed it, so she could have kept it to herself. All of that meant that... she was planning something!

"Hmm, Senior Sister, what's that?" Issei said questioningly. "I feel such a great amount of spiritual power coming from it..."

"You don't know?" Sona said in surprise. From her sources, Issei was Shinso's, the master of the Azure Tiger City, son. He should probably know about such things, right?

Issei shook his head, "No." This time, he wasn't lying. Although Shinso had showed him a high amount of spiritual medicines and cultivation resources, he had never mentioned those round things. In reality, Shinso had completely forgotten to tell Issei about them.

"This is a Nascent Bead. Beads are the ultimate type of cultivation resources, with the highest amount of spiritual power. They are extremely rare, and are found in nature.

"They are formed when there is a large amount of spiritual power in a single area, and because of some certain happenings, they come to existence.

"They are much more potent than medicines, worthy of the title of of the ultimate cultivation resource. Furthermore, there many type of beads. One bead for each realm of cultivation."

Issei nodded his head, "I see..." Inside, he was wondering why Shinso never told him about such a precious thing. After thinking for a bit, he simply thought that Shinso must have forgotten about it or something.

So far, Issei hadn't shown any indication of wanting to steal it, making Sona relieved. Now, she would take the last step. This would determine whether Issei could truly pass the personality test or not. This was the ultimate gamble, a gamble in which the Nascent Bead was in game.

She then placed it on his hand.

"Here, for you," She said calmly, although deep within her eyes, she felt a bit of pain of having to part with such an amazing cultivation resource.

Looking at the bead, Issei's eyes widened considerably before he begun to think that something was wrong. This situation... it seemed as if she was testing him...

The more he thought about it, the more it seemed that something fishy was going on. If it was any other person, they would definitely have accepted without even thinking, but Issei wasn't a normal person. He was a never-before-seen genius!

Issei then quickly realized the situation. Hiddenly smiling, Issei immediately placed the bead back on Sona's hand. On his face, an expression of embarrassment could be seen. Furthermore, there wasn't even the tiniest bit of reluctance when he parted with the precious bead.

As he placed it on her hand, he said, "How could I possibly keep it? You found it, you own it. I already took my Saint Spirit grasses, I'm satisfied." Issei said, and with his top-notch acting skills, it sounded completely believable.

 _I was right!_ Sona exclaimed in her heart. It seemed like Issei's personality really wasn't a bad one! That meant that he qualified to enter her group!

In reality, the poor girl was simply being toyed around by the little devious genius, but she would never find that out.

Bad personality? Issei didn't consider himself neither bad or wrong. To him, they were all subjective. In a war, a hero was seen as a monster by its enemies and a savior to his allies.

Issei was a person that didn't care how the world viewed him. Whether they viewed him as a devil or a god, he didn't care. All he cared was for his and Shinso's safety, nothing more, nothing less.

Looking at Issei, Sona lowered her hand that was holding the bead and said, "Junior Brother, your name is Issei, right?"

"Yes, how did Senior Sister know?" Once more, Issei lied. She knew Sa Ji, so it was expected that she knew him. Furthermore, who in the Heavenly Might School didn't know about the eleven years old who defeated a disciple from the Azure Lightning School in a tournament?

In the Heavenly Might School, was there any other eleven years old aside from Issei? As such, anyone could come to the logical conclusion that he could only be Issei!

"I know your Senior Brother Sa Ji. He told me about you," Sona swiftly lied. Although her acting skills weren't bad, they were simply rubbish in front of Issei's.

"I see..." Issei said, "So, what is Senior Sister's name?"

"Oh, my name is Sitri Sona." Sona said before changing the subject, "Either way, you haven't entered a group already, right?"

"A group?" Issei asked as he tilted his head to the side slightly.

"Yes, a group. Normally, inner disciples form groups so they can protect themselves. There are various groups, and the three top ones are the United World Group, the Sky Tearing Alliance and the Water Devil Alliance.

"Out of all of those, the United World Group has the most members, the Sky Tearing Alliance has the most resources and the Water Devil Alliance has the most powerful members while the least amount of members. The United World Group has over a hundred, the Sky Tearing Alliance around seventy and the Water Devil Alliance only ten."

Issei: "..."

Seeing that Issei had no comments to add, she continued,"If a war between these three groups were to break out, it would be hard to decide which group would win, but it's most likely the Water Devil Alliance. Although they possess they smallest amount of members, they are the most powerful."

"I see.. but why is Senior Sister Sona telling me that?" Issei asked, although he already had a hunch at the situation. She was making the Water Devil Group seem the most powerful, so that could only mean...

"I am the leader of the Water Devil Alliance, the Water Devil Empress, Sitri Sona. I would like to invite you to my group."

 _I knew it!_ Issei exclaimed in his heart. But, his expression on the outside showed surprise, "Senior Sister is the leader of the Water Devil Alliance? And you want me to join?"

"Yes, what do you say?" Sona asked expectantly. Even if he said no, she would still try to convince him. She wasn't about to let such a talent escape from her grasp. To her group, Issei would bring many benefits.

"But, I don't know," Issei pretended to be struggling over whether he should join or not. If he accepted right of the bat, it would definitely seem suspicious. Furthermore, he intended to force Sona to give him the Nascent Bead.

Sona then placed the Nascent Bead on his hand, "If you join, you'll receive this Nascent Bead."

Immediately, Issei's face changed. He then hurriedly said in a humble tone, "Junior Brother Issei is reporting in to Senior Sister Sona!"

That was what members of a group said when they were reporting in to their boss. Issei saying that meant that he had accepted Sona's invitation.

Looking at Issei exaggerated reaction, Sona didn't know whether to laugh or to cry. How could an eleven years old kid be so greedy to the point of immediately accepting at the prospect of receiving a Nascent Bead...

"I see, so I welcome you to the group," Sona said before looking him up and down, "Well, how about I bring you to meed the other members?"

"Sure!" Issei exclaimed excitedly. He wanted to see if this group was just as powerful as Sona claimed it was.

"Okay, I'll just grab my medicine," Sona said as she begun to collect her spoils. They then left the forest together, going back to the entrance. On the way, she handed him a token.

On it, there was engraved a drawing of many waves. On top of the drawing, Water Devil was written. Sona explained to him that that was the identification of the members of the Water Devil Alliance.

And, it was just like that, Issei became a member of the Water Devil Alliance and gained a Nascent Bead in the span of a couple of minutes.

Although it seemed like Issei's decision was rushed, he had thought it through carefully.

Since the start, he was aiming at her martial skill. He figured that if he joined her group, then the chances of him getting his hands on the Water Flower Annihilation martial skill would increase considerably.

As such, he accepted immediately after receiving the bead. Or else, he would have been a fool to decline it.

Joining what seemed to be the most powerful alliance for free and even getting a Nascent Bead on the process as a souvenir, Issei wasn't stupid to refuse it.

Furthermore, he had a hunch that Sa Ji was also a part of the alliance. In the split second that Sona mentioned that she was the leader of the alliance, all dots connected on Issei's head.

He had been trying to figure out why Sa Ji was being so nice to him for a long time, but he couldn't seem to figure it out. Now, he finally had an idea.

Sa Ji was probably a member of the Water Devil Alliance, and Sona had sent him to curry favor with Issei as well as determine his strength.

That would also explain why Sa Ji seemed to be so respectful towards her when they met at entrance of the Medicine Peak.

He was probably reporting something to her. It would also explain why he suddenly changed his mind on going together with Issei on the Medicine Hunt!

It all made sense now!

Issei also came to the conclusion that Sona was truly not simple. Simply from gazing at her eyes, one would be able to sense the deep schemes that were running through her read, but experiencing it first hand was different. Issei now had an idea of how Sona really was!

Although she wasn't nearly as smart as him, she wasn't stupid either. From his guesses, she was much above normal people in terms of intelligence.

 **Read and Review~!**


	26. Dead People Don't Need To Remember Names

**Important info. From now on, I'm going to be using some unique measurement to describe the passage of time and also some Chinese sayings.**

 **They are:**

 **1) Breaths. 1 breath of time equal 1 second.**

 **2) Incense Stick. The time it takes for 1 incense to burn is 5 minutes. Half an incense is 2 minutes and thirty seconds.**

 **3)Cup of tea. The time it takes to drink a cup of tea is around 10 minutes.**

 **Why am I doing this? Believe me, it looks cooler than just saying the time.**

 **For example: "He only had five breaths of time left before his spiritual power ran out."**

 **"Issei arrived at the cave's entrance in less time than it takes an incense stick to burn."**

 **"Enough time passed for an incense stick to burn, and he left."**

 **"He had five incense sticks worth of time to kill his opponent."**

 **"Ten breaths of time passed before he arrived."**

 **"He could only use this power for the time it takes to drink a cup of tea."**

 **Get the idea? Sounds cooler than one second, five minutes and ten minutes, right? If not... well, to me it sounds.**

 **Also, I obviously didn't come up with this. These are ancient Chinese units of time, or something like that.**

 **Now, for the sayings:**

 **Sayings: I had eyes but I couldn't/didn't see/recognize Mt. Tai.**

 **What it means: Imagine meeting a person and you decide to pick a fight with them. Turn out they are a martial artist god and you failed to recognize this mountain of a person and decided to pick a fight.**

 **Usage: Normally when a villain thinks the Main Character is a weakling, tries to kill him, gets beaten up in return. When pleading for his life, he uses that phrase. There are also many other occasions, but this is the main one.**

 **Saying: Pretend to be a pig to eat a tiger.**

 **What it means: When someone strong pretends to be weak just to get their opponent by surprise. Normally like that. Can also be that the strong person is one hell of bastard and just wanted to play around with his opponent, pretending to be weak only to kill him in the end.**

 **Usage: When in the middle of a fight, the one who seemed weak and was losing suddenly becomes really OP and starts destroying his enemies, someone in the audience might say: "He pretended to be a pig to eat a tiger! Such a devious way of thinking!"**

 **Saying: A tiger father begets tiger son. And also: Tiger father, dog son.**

 **What it means: The first one means that the father was incredibly strong, and so was his child. The second one is the opposite. The father was strong, but his son ended up a weakling.**

 **Usage: I don't really need to explain, right?**

 **Well, that's about it. I'm going to be using them a lot from now on, so I thought I would just give you guys a heads-up. Also, this is really used in a lot of Chinese novels, so in case you are planning to read one, this might help you a lot. Specially the units of time. Helped me a lot when reading ISSTH and some others.**

 **Oh yeah, one last thing. Although this won't appear right now, and only later on, I'll just tell you guys for the time being. Also, I'll repeat myself later on when I introduce this term.**

 **The term is Dao. It meas The Way. For example, the Dao of Alchemy means The Way of Alchemy and so on.**

 **It's basically how someone perceives an existence, something or an action. I can't really give an example right now, since I can't think of anything. But, I think you get the idea. If you have any doubts about the Dao or the measurements of time or even the sayings, please PM me and I'll be glad to explain.**

 **This seems pretty bland, but later on it'll make much more sense.**

 **Anyways, chapter time!**

 **Also, for those who missed it, yesterday I posted TWO chapters, 24 and 25. I'm pretty sure that there are a lot of people who didn't notice that, since chapter 24 has half the views as chapters 25. Seriously, half.**

* * *

According to the rules, the hunt had a limit of ten days. But, you could always head out whenever you wanted, its just that once you exited, coming back wasn't possible.

Since both Issei and Sona had huge profits, they decided to head out earlier. Furthermore, Issei needed to spend some time to refine everything and hopefully get his cultivation to the sixth level of the Nascent Profound Realm.

Currently, both Issei and Sona were heading to the exit. After the time it takes for one and half incense sticks to burn, they arrived.

"Junior Brother Issei, three days from now, the Water Devil Alliance will have a meeting. You'll go then and I'll present you to the other members. Is that alright?" asked Sona as she watched the newest addition to her group while standing in front of the entrance.

Although she didn't show it, she was really exited to have such a talent siding with her. Issei would definitely be a valuable force to the Water Devil Alliance, perhaps even more powerful than she imagined.

She could already imagine the faces of the leaders of the United World Group and the Sky Tearing Alliance when they find out about her recent addition to her group.

"As you wish, Senior Sister Sona," Issei said politely with a bow. In his mind, he couldn't wait to head to his private cultivation room and refine his spoils. Ah, getting a new level... Issei was really looking forward to that.

"Then, I must excuse myself," Sona said as she started walking away immediately. She had much to do, and not as much time to spare. As such, she must get to business fast.

Issei didn't really bother saying good-bye. At the moment, refining his stuff was much, much more important than having small talking with Sona.

Hurrying to the Cultivation Tower, Issei entered it, leaving a gust of wind behind it. Climbing up the stairs like a fierce tiger, Issei reached his room in twenty breaths of time.

Getting his token from the Sky Poison Pearl, Issei opened the door, entered it and hurriedly closed it behind him. Without even bothering to glace at the room, which was still blackened, Issei immediately sat down on the ground.

He then waved his hand, and with a gust of wind, a mountain of spirit grass appeared in front of him. He grabbed the first one and placed it on his mouth.

After a few breaths of time, he felt it dissolving, becoming a gust of spiritual power that then flowed into his dantian and profound veins. The feeling was extremely comfortable, just like the one you get when you drink a cold cup of water while thirsty.

Without even giving it time to reach its destination, Issei grabbed a handful of middle-grade spirit grass and placed it on his mouth. As soon as it dissolved, he repeated the process again and again.

That went on for a couple of incense sticks of time. By the end, the mountain of middle-grade spirit grass was completely gone.

Not even bothering to see how much was left for him to get to the next level, Issei picked five Saint Spirit grasses and ate them directly.

Just like before, they became spiritual power and flowed into his body. Only that this time, the amount of spiritual power was not only bigger, but also denser and purer.

He then grabbed another handful and placed it on his mouth. Followed by another one and then another.

Not even the time it takes to drink a cup of tea (Okay, this sounded strange as hell. I'll refrain from using this one a lot. Only when I think it makes sense) later, there was only one Saint Spirit grass remaining.

He still had to go up a level, but Issei had a feeling that with this one, he might just be able to do it. Calming his heart, he picked it up and placed it on his mouth.

One, two, three, four breaths of time passed, much longer than the previous ones, before he felt a tugging feeling inside him. It was as if his spiritual power was growing denser and stronger.

Bang!

A familiar sound rang up within him, like the a fist punching against a wall, and he felt himself much stronger. That sound was the same that appeared when he fused with the Sky Poison Pearl and rose to the fifth level of the Nascent Realm, so that meant..

"Sixth level of the Nascent Realm!" exclaimed an excited Issei.

As of this moment, he could feel that in terms of battle prowess, he could already defeat cultivators of the forth level of the True Profound Realm and even give trouble to cultivators of the fifth! With his speed, he also knew that no matter if it was someone of tenth level of the Nascent Profound Realm, if needed to, he could escape from any situation.

Smiling happily, Issei looked at the final cultivation resource, the Nascent Bead. It had the power of approximately fifty saint grade spirit grasses. Although it was nowhere near enough to go to the seventh level, it could still help him a little.

He then grasped the small round-like object and placed it on his mouth. This time, differently from spirit grasses, the effect was instantaneous. As soon as it entered his mouth, it began a flow of spiritual power that increased his cultivation.

Just like he thought, it wasn't enough to increase an entire level, but he could feel himself slightly stronger. Although it wasn't by much, it was still something.

Since he was now done, Issei got up from the ground and exited the room. He then decided to walk around the school and see its locations. From what Shinso had told him, out of all the schools, the Lightning Dragon School was the best looking one, and the Heavenly Might School was the second.

Well, at least in terms of building, it really did seem amazing. The Mighty Weapon Pavilion and the Mighty Skill Pavilion were certainly structures to admire. Covered in gold, golden lions statues, grand architecture... damn, the owner of the school sure knew how to make things look pretty.

Well, although he liked seeing the magnificent buildings and all that, he still thought that it was all superfluous. If it was up to him, he would use the money that was going to be wasted in these buildings to acquire more martial skills, weapons and cultivations resources.

But, nevertheless, he still had to admit that looking around the school sure was a good way to pass the time.

As he walked through the school, he came across a badly lit alley between two buildings. At first, he was passing right in front of it, but stopped as he heard noises coming from within it.

"You bitch!"

Soon after that, the sound of loud slap broke out, followed by sobbing. Issei felt that something was wrong and immediately masked his presence and walked inside the alley.

Using a partial Lightning Incarnation mode in his eyes in order to observe the things happening inside with clarity, Issei managed to make sense of the situation.

There was a male, around seventeen-sixteen years old that was standing in front of a thirteen-twelve years old girl, who was on the ground. From his position, Issei couldn't clearly see her appearance, but noticed that her left cheek was swollen, with the red imprints of a palm. Surrounding them were other three youths.

"Oh? You're crying now? Cry all you want, bitch!" The youth said as he raised his hand again to slap at her. His face was one of ridicule and anger as he looked at the cowering girl.

The girl immediately closed her eyes and waited for the pain to come, but even after a few breaths of time, she felt nothing. Slowly opening her eyes in fear, she looked at the scene in front of her.

Holding the youth's arm was another person, a kid about ten years old. He seemed like a girl, but she had a hunch that he was a boy, for reasons that she couldn't explain. He had a calm expression on his face, and was holding the youth's, who was at the fifth level of the Nascent Realm, arm as if it was nothing.

Looking into the little boy's eyes, one would see an azure light. That was exactly the lightning that he kept hiding within him, which had just been released with his partial Lightning Incarnation.

The youth, who had his arm held, looked at the kid in surprise. He didn't even see the kid approaching! His subordinates by his side also had expressions of disbelief.

"Who are you?" The youth said, while trying to free his arm, but to no avail. The kid just wouldn't let go! What kind of monster strength was that?

"Me?" Issei said, with a hint of disdain in his eyes, "What use is telling my name to dead people?"

* * *

 **Also, as some of you may have noticed, I have started a new fiction, The Path of Ascension. It'll be updated once to thrice a week. But, worry not, the releasing schedule of this one will remain the same! Not changes whatsoever.**


	27. Breathtaking Beauty

"What?" The youth asked in a scared tone. For some reason, the moment he heard his voice, he had a feeling that... the child in front of him was serious!

"Not only dead but also deaf..." Issei muttered before he grabbed the youth by his clothes. Lifting him up, he eyed the youth dead in the eye, "Any last words?"

"Wait! I'm sorry! Please, don't!" the guy exclaimed, struggling to get out of Issei's grasp. As of this moment, he had none of his arrogant bearing of earlier. He was just like a frightened kitten, tears streaming from his eyes.

"Hmm... you should have thought of that before doing that to her," Issei said before his hand quickly released from the robes and grabbed the youth's neck. "Don't worry, your friends will be joining you soon to keep you company."

"Dammit!" exclaimed the youth. He then looked at his subordinates, "What the hell are you doing?! Help me!"

The others, who had been startled by Issei's sudden appearance, finally took notice of the situation. "Release young master Yan!" They then dashed forward, like fierce tigers, to take Issei down.

"Hmph!" Issei said before he lightly he lifted his free hand. On it, Gan Jiang appeared. Immediately after, he channeled his spiritual power into it.

While still holding the youth, Issei blocked all three attacks. During the exchange, his expression didn't flicker in the slightest. He was just like an immovable mountain, a barrier that they could never surpass.

"Such foolishness... dashing straight at your death..." Issei began. His eyes then became cold as he exclaimed, "Are you that eager to die?!"

His power of the sixth level of the Nascent Profound Realm exploded out, covering the entire area. From the youth's perspectives, the child was no longer an eleven years old kid. He was a devil that came from the lowest levels of hell!

"How can y-you..." The youth, who still had his neck held tried to speak, "Be so powerful at only the sixth level?" Issei's power, although obviously at the sixth level, had the deterrence of someone in the middle levels of the True Profound Realm!

"As I said, you'll be dead soon. Any more information I tell you will be a waste of my time," Issei said calmly. Although his voice of calm, the power and aura emanating from him didn't weaken in the slightest. If anything, because of his calm bearings, he seemed even scarier.

"You dare to kill me?" The youth then laughed as if he had just remembered something, "My father is an elder of the school. If you kill me, you're dead!"

Because of the fear, he had forgotten about that, but right now he seemed to remember. His father was one of the elders of the school! That would definitely scare this hellish kid, right? And, after he released him, he would find some way to take revenge!

"Oh? And why would I be dead?" Issei asked while tilting his head slightly to the side, a dark smile on his face.

"Huh? Because you dared to kill me!" The youth said, slightly surprised at Issei's question. Wasn't that much obvious?

Issei then shook his head, "No, what I mean is..." His dark smile then grew bigger, "How would he ever find out?"

The youth's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. Just as he was about to say something, Issei sighed, "Well, this is just a waste of time. Time to get this done."

He then clenched his fist that was holding up the youth, completely crushing his neck. The blood from the youth's destroyed neck splattered everywhere, but for some reason, not even a single drop fell on Issei or his clothes. Only his hands, that were too close, got drenched.

Not even batting an eye-lid at the corpse, Issei turned his head to look at the others, that because of the youth's death, had been covered in blood.

"You saw too much..." Issei began as he swung his hand in the air, cleaning it from all the blood. "Furthermore, you didn't interfere as he abused the girl..." Issei then took a step forward, and like a flash of wind, he was in front of the three youths.

The youths, who had seen what had happened to their young master, didn't dare to be so arrogant anymore. They were scared beyond comprehension! In their hearts, they felt that not even a devil could be so fearsome!

They then immediately did the thing they did best – begging.

"I'm truly sorry, Senior, I have angered you! Please spare me!" One of the youths begged. Seeing that one took the lead, the others followed.

"Yeah, we had eyes but couldn't see Mt. Tai! Please forgive us senior!" Another screamed as tears fell down his face.

Currently, their appearances were disgusting. They didn't look at all like the mighty body-guards from before. At the moment, they were just like whining insects.

Issei looked at them with disdain, "I see... so you're the type that bully the weak and fear the strong, huh? Do you have no shame!?"

Without even letting them answer, Issei concentrated his spiritual power in his left hand. He then swiped it across the air, bringing forth a gale of wind. Soon after, the sounds of three things hitting the ground rang out as the heads of the three youths left their bodies.

Looking at them with cold eyes, Issei waved his hand. Instantly, four beams of light came from the 4 corpses and came to rest on his hand. Those beams were exactly their cosmos sacks. As always, Issei wouldn't forget to profit, no matter what.

He then finally looked back at the girl who was cowering in the corner. She looked at Issei with despair, apparently afraid that he would kill her. He was about to say soothing words to her, but stopped mid-way when he looked at her face.

The moment he looked at her, it was as if some sort of pressure came down upon him. Although he couldn't see clearly see her face because of the dark environment, it was as if the person had an unruly aura of boundless fierceness. The deterrence that came just from staring at her was huge! As if he was facing an incomparably powerful expert!

He then calmed his mind, closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened them again, the aura was smaller and he was less affected, but it was undoubtedly still there.

"Wait outside," Issei said after finally calming down. He could see that although she had an aura of ultimate fierceness, the way she was acting was the complete opposite. "I'll meet you after I take care of some things."

The girl then eyed Issei, seemingly still afraid, before hurriedly dashing out of the alley. Although she was still scared of Issei, she still stayed just outside the alley, waiting for him. She couldn't feel any malicious intent in his voice, so she wasn't too wary of him.

Also, she knew that there was a chance that he could get mad if she didn't follow his orders. She could only imagine what kind of thing such a person would do when mad.

Seeing that she had gone away, Issei unlocked the lightning power in his hands, entering the partial Lightning Incarnation mode. He then moved to the three corpses and touched each of them. As soon as his hand and their bodies came in contact, their bodies instantly became charcoal because of the amount of electricity.

He then moved to the last one, the first youth he killed, and repeated the process. After that, he stepped into each of the bodies, breaking the charcoal into dust, which was then carried away by the wind.

The best way of committing homicide and getting away with it? Destroy all evidences.

As he looked at the black grains floating in the wind, he sighed. He still hadn't grown completely used to killing. Although it didn't seem like it, when he crushed the youth's neck he hesitated a little and when he was about to behead the three others, he also stopped slightly.

He knew that that hesitation, if in a battle, could represent life and death. His main task at the moment was to get completely and utterly used to killing. So much that he wouldn't hesitate in the slightest and his heart and breathing wouldn't have any fluctuations.

Because of that, he was hunting for people to kill. Obviously, he wasn't going to kill innocents to get used to taking lives. He only wanted to finish people that truly deserved it, like the people he killed just now.

Scum that beat on a defenseless woman... those kind of people had no reason to live. They were just tainting the planet with their presence.

Furthermore, they even dared to ask for forgiveness! If you started it, you do until the end. That's how it should be done!

A man does not kneel to anyone. Kneeling is something that should only be done as a form to respect your elders, and not to beg for your life!

If one kneels to the enemy, than that person fails as a true man! That was what Shinso had taught him and also what he begun to comprehend as well.

After making sure that all ashes were dispersed, he finally exited the alley. Looking around, he found the girl waiting for him not too far away.

He was about to walk towards her, but stopped mid-way when he saw her appearance. Before, they were in a dark alley, and he couldn't see her face and body, but now that they were in day-light, he could see it clearly.

The girl was beautiful, extremely beautiful, so much that he wouldn't doubt that many would willingly offer their lives to her with just a glance. She exuded an aura of nobility, but also one of a tyrant, unruly and strong, although gentle.

With onyx lustrous black hair that reached her back, smooth and fair skin as if she was carved from jade, each of her facial features were astonishing. Perfectly sized nose, round, beautiful eyes, cheeks with a lovely pink luster... she was nigh-perfect!

Furthermore, for a thirteen years-old, her body was by leaps and bounds above the average. He could see the beginning of two smooth twin-peaks and a round bottom. Although she was wearing robes, it was obvious that her form was good, with a slim and lithe waist.

The moment he looked at her, it was as if he had forgotten how to breath. Although Issei was young, Shinso was an admirer of woman, and had taught that he should Issei appreciate beauty. Issei wasn't a pervert, or a beast of lust, but even he could be entranced by beauties. Furthermore, a beauty of this level... was simply breathtaking!

And also, her aura of power that seemed to posses huge deterrence only served to increase her level of beauty. She was definitely above even the cream of the crop when it came to appearance!

And to think she was only twelve-thirteen years old... in the future, she would be a beauty that could bring forth the downfall of nations with only a wink of her eyes.

"Hmm... is there a problem?" The girl asked, seeing that Issei for some reason had stopped walking. Thankfully, that voice broke him from his trance.

Rubbing his eyes a little and making sure that he wasn't seeing an illusion, Issei finally nodded his head. He then calmed his mind and heart and only after that did he approach her again.

"Can you tell me what was happening there?" Issei finally asked. Although his voice was still strict, it was also smooth.

Seeing his question, the girl adverted her eyes before she finally sighed. "That man, his name was Yan Sheng. He is the son of one of the school's elder, Yan Hong." She began, "A few days ago, he saw me while I was walking through the school and decided to ask me out. Since I didn't know him, I rejected him politely and kept on walking.

"The next day, he came to me again. Once more, I rejected him. That went on for a few days until today, when he lost his patience and tried to..." At that point, it seemed as if she was about to say something difficult.

"He tried to r-rape me, but I managed to run away. He then followed me and started beating me. That's when you arrived."

* * *

 **So, that's it for the chapter. Also, I know that I exaggerated on the girl's description, but I have a reason for that. The way I describe people is extremely important, and it will serve as a hint in the future.**

 **For now, that's all. Also, I won't be posting any chapters until Friday. On Friday, I'll be posting two, and then three on Saturday and two or three more on Sunday. That should make up for it, right?**

 **Either way, until Friday! Also, remember to review!**


	28. Xia Mei

Looking at the dazzling beauty in front of him, Issei sighed. That girl was a heavenly beauty, furthermore, she had a dazzling aura of nobility in front of her. She was a true, perfect beauty. It was no wonder that many would take a fancy to her.

But, he also knew that in the world they were in, beauty could be a curse if the person who had it didn't have the power to back it up. This was a world that the strong ruled, a world with no laws. In here, the strong could do whatever they wanted without being punished.

Because of that, rape wasn't a really uncommon thing. Powerful cultivators would prey on weak girls, claim them and then ravish them. Of course, not all of them would do that, but a great deal of them would.

And, that was only in the least. In a world where strength reigned absolute, strong cultivators could enslave entire villages, kill people indiscriminately, bully the weak… that was the world Issei was in.

Issei, for one, despised people who abused of their strength to do such acts. To him, they and dung were not much different.

Seeing that the one he killed was really that kind of person, Issei felt glad that he had taken that decision. If he hadn't done that, there was no telling what else that horrible person might have done…

But, Issei decided that this beauty was truly mysterious. Why would such a heavenly beauty be in this academy? Furthermore, why couldn't he sense her cultivation? Also, what was that aura of tyranny around her that made him feel powerless?

With so many questions in his mind, he begun his questioning, "So, could Senior Sister tell me her name?" Issei finally asked.

"I'm called Xia Mei, what about Junior Brother?" The heavenly beauty, now identified as Xia Mei, said.

"This Junior Brother is called Issei," Issei bowed politely.

"I see…" Mei began before her eyes widened, "How could I forget?!"

She then placed her hands in her cosmos sack that was hanging by her lithe waist before getting a something from it in a small box. She then handed it to him and smiled, "If it wasn't for Junior Brother Issei, there was no telling what that man would have done to me back them. Take this as a token of my gratitude."

Looking at the small box that laid on his hands, Issei could feel a powerful spiritual power emanating from it. His eyes then widened as he recognized that this spiritual power was from a Nascent Bead!"

Without even opening the box, Issei said, "I helped you out of my own will. I didn't expect anything in return. You can have it back," He then opened her small, jade-like hands and placed the box back in them.

Issei wasn't really lying, When he saved her, he wasn't really expecting a reward. He just did it to grow more used to killing and getting rid of one more scum in the world, nothing more. As such, he couldn't really accept something like that. Furthermore, it was such a precious thing!

Also, although he didn't look into the four cosmos sacks he acquired from the youths, he had a feeling that there were even Nascent Beads in them! After all, that haughty boy was the son of an elder! That was more than enough of a reward.

"But..." Xia Mei glanced at her hands, seemingly unsure of how to proceed. From young, she had been taught to repay kindness with kindness. This was the first time that someone refused her gifts, so she wasn't sure of what to do. She then quickly decided to try to offer it again, but was stopped as Issei smiled at her.

"I truly don't need anything. Please, if you were to try to give it to me again, I would feel offended," Issei smiled when he noticed that the girl was about to offer it again.

Seeing that he really wouldn't accept it, she sighed. Just as she was about to say something else, she remembered another thing as her eyes widened and her dazzling face was taken by despair "Junior Brother Issei, I just remembered! That Yan Hong was really the son of a school's elder! Do you have any idea of what will happen if you're found out?!"

Chuckling slightly, Issei said, "I never doubted him. Obviously, I knew what I was doing. From the beginning till the end, I was already ready to deal with the consequences, should they come. Furthermore, it isn't like that elder is finding out, anyways..."

Xia Mei, seeing that Issei was acting so calm, even chuckling, was taken aback. Did this boy, who was younger than her, fear nothing?!

"But..."

"I already said it, Senior Sister. You don't have to worry at all," Issei reassured her once more. He knew better than anyone that he was save. He had completely erased all evidences of the murder, and there was no way it could be traced back to him. Even if it did, so what?!

He could just use the Sky Poison Pearl's poison to deal with them! The poison was effective on any cultivators up to three reals above him, so around anyone up to the sixth level of the Sky Profound Realm! In the Azure Province, the people who had so much power could be counted on one hand. There was no way a trifling elder from a second-rate school would have so much power!

"If Junior Brother says so, then I'll believe him," Xia Mei finally said after a while of boy, just how fearless could he be?! She was astonished by his fearless attitude to say the least!

"Now, Senior Sister, could you answer something for me?" asked Issei once more.

"Oh, what is it, Junior Brother Issei?"

"What is your level of cultivation?"

"Mine?" Xia Mei asked in surprise. She didn't expect that he would ask such a question, "I'm only on the third level of the Nascent Profound Realm," She said, as she also concentrated some spiritual power into her left hand. As Issei observed it condensing, it was obvious that it truly was of the third level.

"Strange..." Issei couldn't help but to say in his heart. Judging from her honest look and the power that she had just shown, it was obvious that she was of the third level of the Nascent Profound Realm. But still, if she didn't have an unfathomably deep cultivation, what else could explain her aura of a tyrant?

Noticing Issei's puzzled and strange countenance, Xia Mei couldn't help but to ask, "Is something wrong, Junior Brother Issei?"

"Ah, no, nothing at all," Issei quickly replied by shaking his head. He took in a deep breath and looked at Xia Mei straight in the eye. Because she was older, being thirteen years old while he was eleven, he had to raise his head a little to look at her eyes, "Could Senior Senior Sister Mei keep what happened here a secret?"

Xia Mei instantly nodded as she looked at Issei's serious look. Even if he hadn't asked her, there was no way she would reveal what had happened here to anyone else. It wasn't like anyone would believe her, anyway.

"Good," Issei smiled before looking up at the sun and determining that he should get back to his dorm and meditate a little and hopefully be able to replay the feeling of killing again and again in his mind, like how he had done when he first killed, "I must get going now, Senior Sister Mei. I hope we can meed again soon."

Issei then turned around and was about to leave, but stopped as she called him out, "Wait!"

Looking back at her, he asked, "What is it, Senior Sister?"

"It's just..." She began, in a low voice. For some reason, she didn't want to part with the boy. Although he was clearly younger than her, she felt warm when she was around him, for reasons she couldn't fathom. Steeling her nerves, she asked, "Would you like to go to the food pavilion for lunch with me tomorrow? I want to at least treat you to something as a reward for saving me."

"Huh?" Issei tilted his head to the side puzzledly before saying, "Sure, I don't see why not," He might as well let her reward him or something. At first, he didn't want a the Nascent Bead because it was so precious, but if it was just some food, there would be no problems.

Hearing that, Xia Mei's face lightened up as she gave a warm and heavenly smile, "Great, I'll be waiting for you at the entrance at mid-day!" She then waved him good-bye and walked, or better, happily skipped away.

Issei, on the other hand, was frozen on spot. That moment she smiled, it was as if his whole world froze. He had never seen such a beautiful scene in his entire life…

After a couple more breaths of time, Issei broke from his stupor. Gazing at the direction Xia Mei had went, he couldn't help but sigh, "Such an innocent yet dangerous beauty..."

He then walked back to his dorm and meditated on top of his bed, replaying the feeling of killing those four people for the entire night. He had decided to only open those four cosmos sack later on, after settling down with the Water Devil Alliance. He was afraid that if his cultivation rose too fast, it could case some problems.

In the following morning, one could see that Issei was still sited cross-legged on top of the bed. On his face, was absolute coldness that would make one shudder just from looking at it.

For this entire time, he had done nothing other than trying to recall the feeling of killing over and over again. By the time he opened his eyes again, the sun was already on the sky.

His eyes, which were already cold before, were now even more. The more one grew used to killing, the colder on grew. That was the law of the world, something all beings must abide to.

Issei's current mentality, although only having killed five people in his life, because of his non-stop mental practices, were already on the level of someone who had killed thousands. Still, Issei still had the feeling that that wasn't enough! He needed to reach the realm of absolute perfection! Anything lower than that wasn't acceptable!

Issei's sole wish was to make Shinso proud of him, and to him, only by being stronger would that happen. Even if he had to sacrifice his humanity to achieve that, he would gladly do it!

If it wasn't for Shinso, he wouldn't even be alive. Even if he was, he would still be a lowly slave that was abused every day. Issei owed Shinso his life, and he was someone who honored his debts.

Because of that, his main goal in life was to make Shinso's proud, and thus repaying him for everything that he had done for him. Anything else that happened didn't matter.

After finally getting out of his meditating position, Issei gazed at the sun and figured that there were only a couple of dozens of minutes left before the time he arranged to meet with the otherworldly beauty Xia Mei.

Quickly tiding his clothes which had been rather messed up because of sitting on his bed for the entire night, he calmly walked out of the building and onto the baths. Because of the killing he had done the day before, he still reeked of blood.

Because of the fact that today was the ninth day of the hunt, and most disciples would only come out later on the next day, the baths were empty, and he managed to enjoy it all to himself.

After a refreshing and rejuvenating bath, Issei donned his robes on again before finally walking out of the bath house and heading towards the food pavilion. Gazing at the sun one last time, he figured he only had a couple of minutes before the appointed meeting time. Rushing forward a little, he finally arrived at the food pavilion and found the beauty from before, Xia Mei already there, expectantly waiting for him to arrive.


	29. A Nice And Casual Lunch

"Junior Brother Issei!" Xia Mei exclaimed when she took notice of Issei. She then walked forward to greet him, "You really came!"

Issei chuckled lightly, "Of course, Senior Sister Mei, why wouldn't I come?"

They then talked a little as they walked inside the food pavilion. During the way, although they weren't really familiar with each other, having only met the day before, they managed to talk for quite a good time.

That was mostly because of Xia Mei's warm and talkative personality, that managed to lighten up Issei's mood. Although she was still scared of Issei, she had come to the conclusion that he wouldn't hurt her. After all, if he wanted to, he could have done so a long time ago.

On the way, they were followed by the eyes of almost all of the male disciples, all of them concentrated on Xia Mei. Although she was much younger than most, being only thirteen while the normal age there was already sixteen, she managed to attract a lot of attention; after all, her face was simply heavenly and her body was already comparable to a fifteen year's old, with two big twin peaks and a smooth and round bottom. And, that was because she was wearing a robe that revealed almost nothing.

After finally arriving at one of the tables in the pavilion, both of them sat down facing each other. Even then, most of the male disciples didn't even bother to control themselves and kept glaring.

It was at that moment that Issei was grateful that the hunt was still going on and most of the disciples were still in the Medicine Peak. Who knows what would happen if the food pavilion was packed with people like it normally was?

"So, what will you have, Junior Brother Issei?" Xia Mei asked as she handed him a menu. She herself was rather excited, since this was one of the few times that she came to the food pavilion. All the previous times, she felt bothered by all the stares, and decided to not go there again. This time, however, since there were less people and she was accompanied, she decided to lunch there once more.

"Oh, well, I'll have anything, as long as it's edible," Issei said as he shrugged. He had long since gotten used to spending days without food, so to him, eating extravagant food was a superfluous luxury. As long as there were nutrients, he was fine with it.

"Then… how about this?" Xia Mei said after looking at the menu for a while and pointed at one of the names written there. Passing his eyes over it, Issei nodded.

"Good!" She then raised her hand, and not even a couple breaths of time later, an outer disciple, whose job was to serve the inner disciples in the food pavilion, headed over. Xia Mei then cleanly said the orders, before thanking the disciple.

As Issei looked at how Xia Mei asked for the orders, he could see that she was quite adept at it, as if it was something like a second-nature for her. Furthermore, when she did it, she had a noble air around her.

To Issei, the more time he spent with this girl who was older than him by two years, the more he felt she was mysterious.

Reaching a point in which he could no longer keep it in, he finally asked, "Hey, Senior Sister Mei, could you tell me something?"

"Hmm?" She said as she glanced up at Issei. During the entire time, he had only talked a couple of words, so she was interested at what his question was. "Sure. What is it, Junior Brother?"

"Well… its just that you don't seem like most people here..." Issei said in a vague tone. He decided to go with such a phrase because its answer would most likely be what he wanted to know.

"Oh? Really?" Xia Mei said in surprise before chuckling, "I guess it's because I'm not from here."

"Not from the Azure Province?" Issei exclaimed surprised, "Then which province are you from?"

Chuckling again, she said, "No, what I mean is that I'm not from the Continent Of The Nine Provinces. I'm from the Blue Wind Country. My father sent me here to study martial arts and cultivate."

"Blue Wind Country?" Issei repeated, surprised. Although he felt that she wasn't from the area around the school, and instead from some far away place, he never would have thought that she was actually from another country! "I see… but, aren't there schools in your country? Why did you have to come to the Azure Province?"

"That's because my father is a the owner of a business that specializes in selling stuff, and he was currently staying on a city on the border of the Azure Province. Since there weren't any schools nearby and this school was quite close to the city, my father sent me into it. Furthermore, its only until I turn fourteen. After that, I'll be able to be accepted into one of the bigger schools of the Blue Wind Country."

Looking over the information she said, Issei nodded. Apparently, her father had moved to a city with no sects or schools, and since the good sects required people to be at least fourteen years old to enter, he sent her here for the time being. Well, at least it answered some of his doubts. Her aura could also be something that she was taught to have, since merchants were quite wealthy and could pay for a teacher to teach such things to their daughters.

"And what about you, Junior Brother?"

"Me?" Issei asked, surprised.

"Yes," Xia Mei nodded. "It's only fair that you tell me about you."

Issei then nodded and started, "Well, I was adopted by Shinso, a mayor of the Azure Tiger City a couple of years ago. Because of my talent in martial arts, he trained me and about a month and ten days ago, I entered some tournament, got a little bit of fame and ended up being invited into this school."

Issei gave her a quite short version of what had happened to him. Obviously, he wasn't willing to tell her the whole story, because albeit they seemed quite friendly with each other, they had only met the day before and he didn't quite trust her.

In reality, as of this moment, the only person he could trust was Shinso. Aside from him, he didn't dare to trust anyone else in this world without laws. He understood that one second you could be the best of friends and on the other, deadly enemies.

Obviously, he wasn't really willing to tell his secrets to a stranger.

"Oh..." Xia Mei said before nodding. She then continued, "But, aren't you a bit too young to be in this school? You seem to be only ten..."

Issei then sighed once more. Not only did he look like a girl, he also looked younger. Seriously, were the heavens playing a prank on him or something? "I'm only eleven, but because of my attainments in cultivation, I managed to enter this school."

At that moment, Xia Mei remembered the scene from the day before. During her talk with Issei, it was as if she had completely forgotten about everything else, but she was suddenly reminded of how easily he killed four cultivators, all of them in the mid-stages of the Nascent Realms.

She couldn't help but to remind herself that the kid in front of her was dangerous, and the way he was carrying himself at the moment was nothing but an act. Nevertheless, she still wasn't afraid of him. He had saved him, after all, and she was grateful for that.

Furthermore, even when she tried to give him a Nascent Bead, he had refused politely, although she clearly knew just how precious that item was. From that, it could be seen that he wasn't really a bad person, and in fact a rather good one. Well, as long as he wasn't it battle, that is.

Because of all these things, her impression of Issei was quite good and she wanted to befriend him. Not because of the benefits that she could gain from it, just from the fact that he seemed to have a good personality. People with such personalities in this world were few, and ones that could alternate between being good and bad were even rarer.

She also, for some reason, felt good at Issei's presence. Ever since she was young, people would either look at her with respect because she was the daughter of a rich merchant, with fear for reasons she couldn't fathom or with lust, which started happening more lately. Issei, on the other hand, although she could see that he was entranced by her beauty, didn't seem to have any ill thoughts toward her.

Also, Issei was the only person up until now that treated her like a normal person. He didn't treat her with too much respect or with fear or with lust. He only talked to her normally, as if she was one of his friends.

Such a way of treating was something that she couldn't feel even in her family. Her sister was way too cold, and they didn't talk much while her father was too busy with work. As such, the first time that she felt that she was normal was when she was around Issei, and she quite liked the feeling.

After being used to extreme ways of being treated, this change of pace was a rather interesting thing for her. Also, although he hadn't even known him for a day, she also felt more natural around Issei, as he exuded an aura of calmness.

At this moment, she decided that she should really put in her efforts to create ties with him. She knew that that feeling she had when she was around him couldn't be that easily achieved when she was with another person, so she decided to keep him close.

After a while, the same outer disciple came back while holding a tray of food. He then served them both and excused himself.

After that, both of them begun eating quietly, in calm, yet pleasant silence. After eating, both of them got up and headed out of the pavilion.

On the entrance, Xia Mei asked, "Hey, is there anything you're going to do after this?"

"I don't think so," Issei answered after thinking a little. There was still two days before the reunion of the Water Devil Alliance, and since Sa Ji was still inside and he didn't have anything to do, he was quite free.

Hearing his answer, Xia Mei smiled lightly before saying, "How about we walk around the academy a little? Although I haven't been here for much longer than you, I'm still more knowledgeable. I can still show you around."

Thinking over her words, Issei nodded. The last time Issei had someone show him the academy, it was with Sa Ji, and he only brought him to the Might Weapon Pavilion, the Mighty Skill Pavilion and the Cultivation Tower. Aside from that, he didn't really know any other locations aside from the food pavilion and the dorms.

Smiling even more, Xia Mei exclaimed, "Great!" She then grabbed his left hand and started walking with him through the academy, pointing at various buildings and explaining various things. During the entire process, although not intentional of her part, Xia Mei's hand had never left Issei's own hand.


	30. Could it be that…

On that evening, a rather interesting scene could be seen by the disciples of the Heavenly Might School. A girlish looking boy and a heavenly looking girl walking around the school grounds, hand in hand, talking excitedly.

Issei had to admit that this was the first time that he actually enjoyed spending time with someone his own age, or something near to it at least. For some reason, although they had me just a day before, he felt incomparably close to Xia Mei; she simply had a warm and approachable aura around her that made people loosen their mental barriers.

Xia Mei was also experiencing similar feelings. Because of the way she was normally treated, she had never lived a normal childhood. Every time she had a friend, she could tell that they were only there because they had ulterior motives. Or it was because she was rich, or because of her beauty.

As such, she had never actually experienced truthfully talking and spending a good time with someone with age's similar to hers. She had a warm, hazy feeling in her heart that she just couldn't shake. A dazzling smile plastered across the face as she kept pointing at more and more buildings, chatting leisurely with Issei as they walked.

Now, there was something really strange to the entire situation. Although Issei was clearly younger than her, looked younger than her and everything else, the entire time she spent with him, it was as if she was the younger one. The way he talked, they way he walked, the way he did stuff… it all made it seem like he was older that Xia Mei, at least by one or two years.

Obviously, there was a reason for that. Since the start, Issei always had a more developed mentality, about two or three years above his age. When he entered the school, he was just like that. But, that changed after he took his first blood.

There is a saying that says that killing changes people. That isn't wrong in the slightest. Some people grow cold, some mad, some crazy, but Issei's reaction was a rather peculiar one. He matured even more.

When he first killed was when he noticed just how thin and weak a human's life is. One moment you are enjoying it, the next one you are looking down at the bloodied dagger sticking out of your heart. Life comes and go like the wind. If you aren't careful, you can easily lose it.

Because of that enlightenment, Issei's view of the world changed even further. Now, he looked at the world differently than before. He valued his own life more, and disregarded the life of others even more so.

As of this moment, although the age of his fleshly body was only eleven years old, he was over fifteen years old mentally in various aspect. Such a difference in mental and body age wasn't uncommon to cultivators, although there had never been cases in which the gap between the two was so big.

Of course, although Issei's mental age was that of a fifteen years old in many aspects, there were still times when he subconsciously acted like an eleven years old. That was something that just couldn't be helped, since in his heart, he was still a child.

Well, with all that said, it was still a fact that in most occasions, Issei still gave off the aura of a person much older than he was. It was exactly because of that that Xia Mei had the feeling that Issei seemed older than her by a couple of years.

Furthermore, although up until the last day, he had been acting in the school grounds, pretending to be a naive kid, he decided that it would be useless to do so with Xia Mei. She had already seen him kill people in cold blood and his true personality, after all. So, what difference did it made for him to act childish? He wasn't fooling her anymore, that's for sure..

Because of that, he dropped his act and decided to act without masks. And, that was not all. He decided to drop the act all together.

Frankly, he was getting quite annoyed at having to pretend to be a kid all the time, and since he was entering the Water Devil Alliance, he decided to simply stop with his acting. He wanted to be respected by his teammates, and not to be looked down on.

Of course, that doesn't mean that he would always act natural. In case of facing a strong enemy, he would naturally reverse back to his childish persona, in order to have his adversary underestimate him.

Ever since he was adopted, Shinso had made sure to remind Issei every single day that being underestimated was his best weapon when fighting strong opponents.

As such, Issei kept walking with Xia Mei throughout the entire day, talking along the way. He had too admit that this was the first time he was not having a battle and having a lot of fun at the same time.

Issei was a person who enjoyed battles. The thrill of the fights, the boiling blood, the sparks from the clashes, the uncertainty of who will win and who will lose, your life on the line… he just couldn't get enough of that feeling. Although he wasn't battle-freak, he wasn't that far from it.

Finally, the moon appeared on the sky, bringing day-time to an end. It was only at that moment that both Issei and Xia Mei noticed that they had both spent the whole afternoon walking around the school and talking. In reality, they weren't paying much attention to the passage of time, so they were both surprised.

Along with their surprise, Xia Mei finally noticed something. She was holding Issei's left hand! Now that she thought about it, she had held it the entire day! Immediately, her face turned the color of a ripe tomato.

 _He's clearly younger than me, but still… why does my heart start beating faster?_ Where the thoughts that Xia Mei currently had on her heart. The moment she realized that they had held hands the entire day, she couldn't stop her heart from increasing its beating speed.

 _Could i_ _t_ _be that… I have feeelings for him?_ Was the first thing that she thought, but she instantly shook her head, _No, I have only known him for a day! How can this be? I must be sick or something…._

While Xia Mei was dealing with her inner troubles, Issei couldn't help but too chuckle as he watched her constant flow of facial expressions. In one moment, she was happy, on the other shy, on the other angry…. It was amusing, to say the least. Furthermore, with such a beautiful face, each reaction she had was beautiful to the extreme.

Issei, obviously, wasn't nearly as affected as Xia Mei was. Differently from her, he was aware that they had been holding hands the entire time, but didn't think much from it. To him, that had spent most of the time he had ever since he had arrived in this world secluded in Shinso's castle, did not understand what holding hands meant.

Of course, a young maiden's heart was bound to react differently from Issei. There was simply no way to compare both of them…

At first, Issei felt like saying something and snapping her out of her trance, but decided against it when he realized that the scene in front of him was just too mesmerizing. Her expression kept getting cuter and cuter with each passing second, and he just didn't have the heart to stop it.

Shinso, although having given Issei a lot of good life lessons, had also taught Issei some personal views of his. One of that was that beautiful woman should be admired! Shinso wasn't exactly a pervert, but he was really close to it. Such a thing could be seen as he teased the maid Sayla on a daily basis.

Thankfully, Issei didn't pick up on Shinso's rather lewd view of the world, and instead, modified it slightly. To him, although he admired beauty, he didn't gaze at it lewdly like Shinso. Instead, his admiration of beauty was pure, and not lustful.

It was only after a while that Xia Mei finally managed to get rid of the intrusive feeling that were filling her heart. In the end, she came to the conclusion that although she liked Issei as a friend, it was no more than that. She attributed the beating of heart to something like a cold, or a flue. After all, she couldn't just fall in love with someone she barely knew, right?

Now, with her thoughts and mind stable, she could finally talk with Issei again. Taking in a deep breath, she started, "So, how did you like the school?"

Seeing that she had snapped out of her thoughts, Issei quickly nodded before answering, "It truly is a beautiful school… just like Shinso had told me."

"Shinso?" Xia Mei asked as she tilted her head to the side before she quickly remembered, "Oh, the one who adopted you! I had forgotten..."

Issei shook his head, "No problem…. Either way, it's getting late, I should go now."

"I see..." Xia Mei began, before she suddenly stopped. She then seemed to think of something, before she opened her mouth again, "Hmm… what are you going to do tomorrow?"

"Me?" Issei asked in surprise. Could she want to meet with him again? Well, he would like that. The Medicine Hunt would only open tomorrow at mid-night, at the reunion of the Water Devil Alliance still would only take place in two more days. With that in mind, he continued, "Not really, why?"

Xia Mei's face brightened up, just like it had done in the afternoon. She then quickly said, "Well, I was thinking… maybe we could spar a little?" In reality, she just wanted to spend time with her first ever friend, but she couldn't think of anything to do. As such, she went with what she thought that was most suited.

"Sparing?" Issei was once more surprised. An idea then came to his mind, _Maybe I can find out why she has this aura of power around her if I battle with her…_ He then nodded. "Okay, that sounds perfect." He then smiled at her, "Tomorrow at what time?"

"Hmm… how about we have breakfast together once more? And we go after that?"

"Oh?" Now she added breakfast? Interesting…. "Sure. How about around six in the mourning?"

"Perfect!"

Issei then smiled one last time before saying: "Would you like me to bring you to your dorm?" Although it didn't look like it, Issei was quite aware of his surrounding and he knew how the surroundings disciples were eying Xia Mei. With her strength, it would be dangerous to walk alone, even with her aura. So he decided to follow her back in order to make sure that no unexpected troubles would arise.

Xia Mei wasn't dumb either, and she saw his intentions. She nodded, and with that the both of them walked to the females dorms. At the entrance, both of them looked at each other under the moonlight.

"So, see you tomorrow, Senior Sister Mei!" Issei smiled happily before he walked away, knowing that Xia Mei was save now. As of this moment, he already considered her as a friend. As such, he cared for her well-being.

Xia Mei, on the other hand, didn't move at all as she watched Issei's back as he walked away. That was because, at this moment, her heart had started beating faster once more.

 _This… I don't understand this! It has only been a day… how come this is happening?_ She questioned in her mind as she felt her cheeks go red as she stared at Issei's departing figure.

 _He is only a kid…_ She tried to tell herself, but at this moment, it was as if another voice had popped up within her mind, _But he is so mature…_

She then shook her head. _No, this definitely isn't what I think it is! My heart must be beating so fast because of something related to cultivation… that's right! It's definitely that!_

Xia Mei, in the end, failed to notice that every time, she used the same arguments to justify that what she was feeling wasn't feeling of affections, or a crush, to be more exact.


	31. Negative Intent

On the next morning, an extremely unusual scene could be spotted at one of the arenas of the Heavenly Might School.

A young boy, no older than eleven, was currently looking at at a girl, about thirteen years old, who looked like an angel that descended from the Heavens.

Both of them were looking at each other, and although they were in the arena, there didn't seem to be even the slightest enmity between them. In fact, it was as if the were only there to have fun!

Although that wasn't really unusual, it still didn't happen way too often. Normally, people would only go to the arena to settle scores or conflicts. People who did that for fun were relatively scarce, since most disciples would rather spend their time cultivating then practicing.

When one participated in a spar, that meant that others could see the skills that he had, and in the future, if he were to battle with a person who had watched the spar in the audience, than he would have one less trump card. As such, people would only go the arena when necessary or when really dumb.

Issei and Xia Mei's case was neither. They were there because they felt like doing something fun, and hell, why not just spar?

Furthermore, it wasn't as if there was too much of an audience, only one or two occasional disciples who passed by, since most disciples would only appear when it was time to leave the Medicine Peak that day at mid-night.

Looking at Xia Mei, Issei smiled, "Ready?"

Nodding, she smiled back, "Whenever you are."

Issei gave a slight nod, "Then… let's go!" Immediately after, he pushed his feet against the ground and leaped forward, disappearing out of sight, leaving behind only wind.

Before Xia Mei could even take in what was happening, Issei appeared right in front of her, his right fist pulled back.

When he was about to throw the punch, he was preparing to stop, seeing that she wouldn't be able to block it, but much to his surprise, she back-flipped, quickly increasing the distance between them.

Stopping for a slight second, Issei sent a surprised glance at Xia Mei before smirking. In a low voice, he said, "Not bad…"

He then did the same movement, jumping forward, but this time at an even faster speed. Xia Mei was about to pull the same back-flip, but much to her surprise, just as Issei was about to reach her, he disappeared from her line of sight.

Immediately after, she felt wind building up above her and without even bothering to look up, she jumped to the side. When she looked back at the position she had been, all she saw was a crater on the ground.

Immediately, she turned pale. Not because of the crater, but because Issei… was nowhere to be seen.

Just as she was about to look around, she felt another sense that something dangerous was about to happen and summoned her sword from her cosmos sack. Without even thinking, solely based on instincts, she lifted her sword above her head.

Clang!

The sound of metal colliding against metal rang out. Because of the impact, Xia Mei was pushed a few feet back, leaving a trail on the ground. Issei, on the other hand, was where Mei had just been.

He was surprised, to say the least. Although he was going easy on her, and making sure to pull back his attacks if he thought that they would reach her, from the beginning until now, all of his attacks had been or avoided or blocked. He didn't need to stop any of them mid-way.

Looking at Xia Mei, he suddenly understood that she was much more than an otherworldly beautiful girl. On the third level of the Nascent Profound Realm, her battle prowess could be compared to those of the fifth.

Now he understood why that Yan Sheng guy had brought over so many people to deal with her the other day. If Yan Sheng had been alone, Issei doubted that he would have been able to subdue her!

Xia Mei saw Issei's surprise and said, "Junior Brother Issei, although I'm nowhere as strong as you, I still know how to protect myself. You shouldn't look down on me just because I'm a girl, you know?" On her face, a cute and teasing grin could be seen.

Issei smirked, "I see… well, then I'll kick things a notch, Senior Sister."

Before she could even answer, her eyes widened as he disappeared from sight, leaving only a trail of dust behind.

 _How does he do that…?_ However, her thoughts were interrupted as a feeling of danger once more washed over her. This time, she jumped back. But, when she looked back at the place she was, she found nothing.

 _Huh?_ She thought in questioning manner. She was sure that she felt that he would attack… how come nothing happened?

Soon after, the feeling of danger came again. This time, she dodged to her left, and much to her surprise, when she looked back, she found that nothing had happened.

 _My feelings of danger had never failed me in my entire life… how is he doing that?_

While Xia Mei was wondering how Issei was pulling that out, the person in question was currently running around the arena, constantly keeping himself in her blind spots, giving her the impression that he had disappeared.

Normally, most cultivators wouldn't be able to pull that off, because of two main reasons. Firstly, they needed to be fast, much faster than the other person. Secondly, and the most important reason, one had to predict where their head would turn to before it did.

Predicting something like that would be an impossible concept to most cultivators, since there wasn't such a thing as a martial skill that could see the future. Issei, obviously, also didn't have such a skill.

What he was doing was observing how her neck tensed and her nerves moved, and with that, he was able to predict where she would turn to. Such a thing could only be used by those that were adept with the human body, and knew how it worked.

Issei was exactly such a person, mostly due to the books that Sa ji had lent him. Even so, even if had been another cultivator, they wouldn't have been able to use the contents of the books in battle, because it required superb concentration. He also just happened to have that.

As Issei moved around, he was trying to figure how she was able to avoid his attacks. It was as if… she was able to sense his attacks before he arrived. His eyes then widened as he thought of a possibility.

Looking at the girl, he directed his killing intent at her, aiming it at her side. Immediately after, she jumped back.

Eyes widened, Issei was still a little skeptical regarding his theory. Directing his killing intent at her once more, he watched in amazement as she once more moved out of that spot.

 _So that's how it is…_ Issei muttered in his mind. Apparently, Xia Mei had an ability that could sense negative intent, or killing intent in this case, directed at her and help her avoid danger.

When a person attacks, even if he has no intention of hurting the other, it's impossible to not let a little of negative intent to flow out. In short, negative intent is the sort of feeling you have when your actions are going to do harm to the other, or when what you are about to do will make the other person mentally or physically injured. For example, killing intent is a form of negative intent. Apparently, she could sense killing intent. This made Issei wonder if he could sense other types of negative intents... like jealousy, deceit and the likes.

Either way, Xia Mei seemed to have the ability to sense that little bit of negative intent!

As of this moment, Issei understood that she was even more mysterious than he thought she was. Just from looking at her, he could tell that she wasn't using an ability to sense the negative intent, because there was no fluctuation of spiritual energy surrounding her.

That could only mean… that that was an ability of her own!

 _How interesting…._ Issei thought with a smirk, _Sadly, that ability won't work on me now that I have figured it out._

Without even giving Xia Mei a moment to breath, he directed his killing intent at her once more. As expected, she jumped back. Not wasting time, Issei rushed forward, quickly appearing in front of the Xia Mei who was still trying to stabilize her posture after the back flip.

When she felt that feeling of danger, it was too late, as Issei's fist was already a few centimeters away from her face. However, it didn't move forward and kept immobile in the air for a while, before Issei calmly retracted it back.

Xia Mei, who had somehow fallen to the ground in surprise the moment she noticed the fist that was just about to smash a hole through her head, was dazed at what was happening.

 _I could sense something dangerous just a moment ago… how did he get here so fast?_ Was the only thought that passed through her head.

To her, no matter how much she tried, she couldn't seem to figure out how Issei had pulled it off.

Issei, with his fist now back, offered her his hand and smiled, "So, how was it, Senior Sister Mei?"

Hearing Issei's voice and seeing Issei's his hand that was out in the air for her to take, she couldn't help but to blush little as she came back to her senses and took his hand into her hers.

Issei then helped her up and said, "Senior Sister, I must say that I'm surprised. Not only are you so beautiful, you are also just as strong!"

Being complimented, her blush deepened even further before she stabilized herself, burying the impure feelings deep within her heart. With that out of the way, she finally said, "Junior Brother flatters me too much. Your strength is way above mine…."

Issei, replied with a simple nod of his head, deciding to not say anything, If he said she was correct, he woulds seem arrogant and if he said she was wrong, he would simply be lying, and she would know it. As such, he just stayed silent.

"Either way," Xia Mei began, seeing that Issei was no silent, "There's something that I forgot to ask you. Have you joined a group yet?"

"Group?" Issei tilted his head to the side before grabbing a token from his cosmos sack. Showing the letters engraved on it that said Water Devil, to Xia Mei, he said, "Yes, in fact, I joined the Water Devil Alliance only a couple of days ago."

Looking at the badge, Xia Mei's eyes widened. Issei, the little boy in front of her, was actually part of the Water Devil Alliance! Although she had only been in the school for a couple of months, she had obviously heard of the most terrifying of all the groups.

A group with only ten people that could rival the United World Group and the Sky Tearing Alliance, both having over a hundred members… how could she not know about it?!

At first, she thought that since Issei was new, he hadn't joined a group yet, and since she hadn't done it either, she was about to suggest for them to choose a group together. In the entire school, Issei was the only one that she considered as a friend, and as such, she would rather enter a group with him.

But now, that idea was crushed as she found out that Issei belonged to the group all inner disciples dreamed of joining.

Issei then asked, breaking Xia Mei out of thoughts, "How about you, Senior Sister?"

"Me?" Xia Mei asked as she shook her head, "I have still yet to join one."

Seeing her answer, Issei smiled and asked question that gave her a not so small surprise, "How about you join the Water Devil Alliance?"

"What?!" Xia Mei exclaimed in surprise. To join the Water Devil Alliance was something that many hoped for, but the requirements were just too harsh. She had never even fathomed the idea of joining that group with her power at the third level of the Nascent Profound Realm.

But, now, right in front of her, someone just actually casually asked if she wanted to do so!


	32. The Meeting Of The Water Devil Alliance

**Guys, I'm sorry, but no double chapters today. I'll definetly release two tomorrow, though. Also, for all of you that wanted more DxD characters, this chapter and the next are dedicated to you.**

* * *

"Can you really do that?" An excited look appeared on Xia Mei's face.

"Well...most likely."

"Really?!" Xia Mei asked again, this time even more excited. Oh, if only she could enter the Water Devil Alliance... no one would dare to try to have ill thoughts about her again!

"As I said, I can probably do it." Issei repeated, not bothered by it in the slightest. He always had great patience, even more so with his friends.

At this point, Xia Mei was absolutely excited. Even though he hadn't told her that it was assured, that was already more than enough. Every disciple dreamed of entering the Water Devil Alliance... to even have a chance of doing it would already be fortune accumulated from many previous lives!

By entering the Water Devil Alliance, your standing in the school would soar to new heights. A bashful cat could become a fierce heavenly Tiger! No one would look down on you, and even more so, no one would dare to disrespect you.

That was the true power of the Water Devil Alliance in the inner sect. In the outer sect, its members were treated like gods. Only in the Core Disciples area would your standing diminish a little, but it would still be higher than the others!

That was because, out of the top ten Core Disciples, five of them were part of the Water Devil Alliance! That was much more than all of the other alliances. With such huge figures behind you, anyone could leave a peaceful and comfortable life.

Just thinking that she wouldn't receive those lecherous glares from the other cultivators in the school was already reason enough to celebrate for Xia Mei. Not only that, her incredibly powerful Junior Brother Issei was already on it!

"Either way, I'll see what I can do," Issei said with a small smile on his girly face. He hadn't known that the girl would get so excited over the prospects of joining. It was only an alliance made by disciples...what was so great about it?

Obviously, Issei had no idea whatsoever of what being part of the Water Devil Alliance represented. After all, all he knew was that it was one of the top three alliances. Aside from that, he was completely in the dark when it came to it.

Xia Mei, having broken through from her stupor by Issei's voice, nodded. She then took in deep breaths and tried to stabilize herself.

 _What do you think you are doing?!_ Xia Mei reprimanded herself. _Have you forgotten all of your teaching?! A lady should act dignified!_

Taking in a couple more breaths, she was finally back to normal. Looking at Issei, she smiled at him and said, "You have my gratitude, Junior Brother Issei."

Issei then waved it off with a smile, "No problem. We are friends, right? Of course I would want to place you in the same alliance as me."

Hearing Issei words, Xia Mei was slightly stunned. "Friends..." She muttered in a low tone, as if trying to see how the word felt in her mouth. Her face then gave birth to a wide smiled as she looked up at Issei, "That's right!" She exclaimed. "Friends!"

Issei nodded, "Exactly."

After that, they once more spent the day walking around the academy. The academy was simply huge, and in the day before, Xia Mei simply didn't have the time to show everything to Issei. This time, however, she managed to visit all of the places with him.

Since by the time they had finished walking through the entire academy was already night, they said their good-byes and headed back to their respective dorms.

Issei then laid down on his bed and sighed. The last few days had been fun and easy going, but he knew better than anyone that those days must come to an end. The moment that everyone got back from the Medicine Hunt was the moment that his life would get troublesome again.

Sighing, Issei looked at the ceiling, "Oh well, being this carefree isn't too good for my cultivation, anyways. One can only ascend to new heights when under pressure... I guess it's time to get my life rolling again." And with that, he closed his eyes and slept, for he knew that the next day would be an eventful one.

…

…

…

"...p!"

"Up!

"Wake up!"

A stream of sentences wrung by Issei's ear. The boy in question, who had just been sleeping, was awakened with a start by the constant shaking that took over his body.

"Huh?" Issei said lazily as he looked around the room. He then turned around and saw his Senior Brother Sa Ji looking at him with an annoyed look on his face.

"Oh..." Issei said, slightly non-nonchalantly. "You're back?"

"I'm back?!" Sa Ji's face got ugly. "I've been trying to wake you up for the past fifteen minutes, and you say that?!"

"Fifteen minutes...?" Issei tilted his head to the side slightly. "Well..." He then begun slowly. "Sorry?"

As one can notice, Issei wasn't much of a morning person. Furthermore, this was the first time that he had slept in a long time. Normally, he would spend the whole night cultivating, which had the same effect as sleeping, but this time, he just tried to go with the normal way, for a change.

Because of that, he was even more slow than usual. It was only after a couple of minutes that his drowsiness disappeared and he completely woke up, his usual attitude igniting to life.

Looking at Sa Ji, who was still looking at him with an annoyed look, he said, "Sorry about before, Senior Brother Ji."

Sa Ji sighed, "No problem. Either way, get ready fast."

"Huh? Why?"

"So I can take you to the meeting!"

"The meeting of the Water Devil Alliance?" Issei asked. Now that he thought of it, Sa Ji was also a member of the alliance, so he should probably have been told that Issei had entered. As such, he didn't bother hiding it.

"Exactly," replied Sa Ji. As he thought, he had already been informed of it.

"Alright then. Give me ten breaths worth of time," Issei quickly said before he leaped up from the bed and proceeded to dress his uniform. Just as he said, in exactly ten seconds, he was completely dressed and ready to go.

They then left the dormitory, and Sa Ji started walking around the academy, sometimes straight, sometimes taking turns left and sometimes right. Issei followed closely after him in silence.

It was only after a couple of minutes that they arrived at the entrance of the school, which was also the only exit. Sa Ji didn't even bother looking at the guards, which were also inner disciples, as he walked past it, getting the Water Devil token from his cosmos sack as he walked, and holding it by his head.

The guards, who were about to question him, stopped dead on their tracks as they stared in awe at the token. Seeing that the person in front of them was considered untouchable to them, they even retreated back a step and directed their gaze at Issei.

Seeing their eyes lock on to him, Issei didn't wait long to get his own Water Devil token from his cosmos sack, and placed it by his head, not stopping walking even once, just like Sa Ji had done before.

Both guards eyes once more widened as they noticed the token. Just like with Sa Ji, they took a step back and let him through. Only after both Issei and Sa Ji were a good distance away did they let loose a breath that they didn't know they were holding.

Looking at each other, they sighed. "Who would have thought we would meet two members of the Water Devil Alliance on the same day?"

The other shook his head and only sighed as he looked at the departing figures. To inner disciples such as themselves, whose positions were so slow that their job was to make sure that only authorized disciple could go to and fro the school grounds, Issei and Sa Ji existences were akin to that of a god.

At the same time, the two people in question were currently walking further and further away from the school. Issei, who had kept quiet the entire time, couldn't hold it in anymore and asked, "Senior Brother Ji, just where are we going? I didn't think we would leave the school grounds for this reunion..."

Sa Ji chuckled a little. "Since from here we are going on a quest, we decided to might as well have the meeting outside of the school ground to save time."

"Quest?!" Issei immediately asked. He didn't know anything about this so-called quest. All that Sona had told him was that they were having a meeting. She hadn't mentioned such a thing...

Seeing Issei's surprised expression, Sa Ji questioned in surprise, "Could it be that Sona didn't inform you?"

"No," Issei shook his head.

"Oh well..." Sa Ji began with a sigh. "You'll find out when we get there," he stated as they continued their walk. After a couple of minutes, they finally arrived at a rather big house, which was standing on the middle of a field of grass. On an area of a two kilometers in all direction, no other buildings aside from the house could be spotted.

"This is it, Junior Brother Issei," Sa Ji said as he gestured towards the house. "All the other members are already inside."

Nodding, Issei walked over to the house, opened the door and entered, with Sa Ji being right behind him. Upon entering, the first thing he saw was a large table. Around it, about ten people could be seen, with Sona sitting on the far-end with a slightly bigger chair.

Immediately after Issei entered the room, everyone turned their attentions toward the door, looking at it curiously. Sona immediately stood up and walked over to greet Issei.

"I see that you have come," She stated. "Have you been well?"

Issei nodded, "Yes, I have. Thank you for your concern, Senior Sister."

Nodding, Sona looked back at the members. As of now, all of them had their eyes on Issei. Some were amazed, some were confused, but the general consensus was excitement.

Turning her head to look at all of the members sited around the table, Sona said, "Well, Issei, this ones are your fellow members of the Water Devil Alliance. Introduce yourself."

Issei nodded and also turned his head to face them. Bowing slightly, he said, "It's a pleasure to meet you all. I'm called Issei."

Sona then looked up at the members sited around the table and gestured something to them, which meant something along the lines of "Introduce yourselves."

Immediately after, one of the girls sited near the table stood up. She seemed to be around Sona's age, and could be considered a beautiful woman, with long straight black hair that extends all the way down to her knees in a split bangs hairstyle. Her skin was fair, and her face sported a pair heterochromic eyes, with a violet left eye and a light brown right eye.

"My name is Shinra Tsubaki, and I'm the vice-leader of the Water Devil Alliance. It's a pleasure to meet you, Junior Brother Issei."

The woman introduced herself with a smile and went back to her seat.

Soon after, another member stood up, also female. She was a young girl with black hair and green eyes. Her figure wasn't bad, and one could see the undulations on the school's robe made by her protruding twin peaks. She then spared a glance at Sa Ji, who was by Issei's side, blushed a little and then introduced herself.

"My name is Hana Mo. It's great to have you with us, Junior Brother." She sent Issei a warm smile, looked over at Sa Ji one last time, blushed and then sat back on her seat.

Once more, another female disciple stood up. It was also at this point that Issei noticed that apart from a feral looking guy and Sa Ji, all of the other members of the Water Devil Alliance were female.

 **Read and Review~! (Really, try to review if you have time. It only takes a couple breaths of time (LOL). One of my greatest joys is opening fanfiction and seeing that my story has been reviewed.)**


	33. Absurd Request

**Guys, guess what? Bad news. Apparently, God decided to play a sick prank on him and gave me an exam tomorrow. A big, fat and boring exam. As such, I'll have to study as much as I can. What I mean to say is that I won't be able to post a second chapter today like I had promised. At most, I'll manage to quickly write a chapter of TPOA since I haven't updated it in a long time. Either way, I'm sorry for the inconvenience. Tomorrow I'll definitely post one, and depending on how fast I finish my exam, two. But, since I know for sure that I won't have any exams on Sunday, I can guarantee you guys two chapters on Sunday, at the bare minimum.**

 **Either way, thanks for all of the reviews! It truly made me glad yesterday to see that many!~**

 **As for the guest who commented on the previous chapter, I'm sorry to say that I can't really answer your question. It would be a HUGE spoiler, but all I can say is that although you aren't completely right, you aren't completely wrong, either.**

* * *

Following that, the remaining members all introduced themselves. In total, including Sona and Sa Ji and excluding Issei, there were in total 10 members, and with Issei eleven.

Sona was the leader, also the one with the strongest level of strength. Right behind her was Shinra Tsubaki, the Vice-Leader. After that, most of them had the same level of strength.

The remaining members were the black haired, green-eyed beauty who introduced herself before, Hana Mo; Issei's Senior Brother, Sa Ji; a brown haired voluptuous girl named Kusa Reya; A pink-haired, cute beauty that went by the name of Meguri Tomo; a petite, fifteen years old girl with golden eyes and light purple hair called Bennia; the feral looking male with gray hair whose was name Garo Loup; a blue haired sixteen-years-old named Yura Tsubasa and finally Nimu Ruru, a petite brown haired girl with thick thighs that the robes couldn't conceal, mostly because of a cut in the robe that ran across the legs, allowing better movement speed.

Their levels of cultivation ranged from the fourth level to the eighth of the Nascent Profound, with Sitri Sona being the only one that made it to the ninth. In short, it could be said that this group's strength truly wasn't to be underestimated.

After all of the members had finished their introductions, all of them sat down on the table and Sona officially begun the meeting.

Coldly looking over at the members present with her sharp eyes, Sona began, "A few days ago, one of our seniors in the core disciple area, Yun Han, received some information that the tomb of an expert had been recently found near the Stone Dagger city.

"Because of certain matters, the Core Division of the Water Devil Group won't be able to attend to it, so they decided to let us go. It is a great honor for us to be handed down this mission, and they even said that we could keep whatever we found in the tomb as long as we made sure that the United World Group and the Sky Tearing Alliance didn't profit much."

When Issei listened to that part, he couldn't help but to chuckle lightly, _Seems like even in the Core Disciples area, there is still competition between the groups. Apparently, the Core Division of the Water Devil Group just wanted to made sure that the other groups couldn't get their hand on precious treasures, so they passed this mission down to us, the Inner Division. How interesting..._

Sona stopped for a slight moment when she heard Issei's chuckle, but she then turned her head away and continued, "Either way, this is a precious opportunity. Furthermore, it seems that the United World Group and the Sky Tearing Alliance have yet to receive this information, so the sooner we depart to the expert's tomb, the better. After all, we abide by the rule of first come, first serve."

Sona then looked over at each and every member before putting her hand near her cosmos sack. It shined slightly and in the next moment, a map appeared on Sona's hand. She then placed it on the table and opened up, allowing everyone to peer into it.

Seeing that everyone was now focused on the map, Sona pointed her finger at a location that was marked by a red cross on the map. "This is the Stone Dagger City. The distance between us isn't short, so if we were to depart today after lunch, we would only arrive around two days later at night. As such, the sooner we go, the better."

She then lifted her head, "Any questions?"

Everyone then shook their head, signalizing that they understood everything. However, Issei instead nodded his. Noticing that, Sona looked at him, "What is it, Junior Brother Issei?"

When the other members heard it, they couldn't help but to be surprised. The way that Sona talked to him... it wasn't like she talked to them, with a tone of superiority. In fact, it seemed that if their ages weren't different, she would even treat him as a person with equal standing!

Issei, on the other hand, failed to notice the surprised glares, or he didn't bother to care about them. Either way, the result was the same. He then looked up at Sona and said, "Senior Sister, I have a request to make."

"Request?" Sona said, slightly surprised. He hadn't even done anything yet for the alliance, yet he still dared to ask for something. Sona didn't know whether to laugh or cry. However, her face didn't betray her inner thoughts as it remained as cold and as monotone as ever. "What is it, Junior Brother Issei?"

At this point, the members were even more surprised. If Sona didn't outright reject them without even listening to their wish would already be considered good luck. At the very most, she would say something along the lines of "Speak it," But never something that polite. Could it be that something happened between her and this girlish looking boy?

"I was wondering whether I could invite a friend to the alliance..." Issei begun, without even a trace of shame on his face.

"What?!" One of the members, Meguri Tomo, the cute pink-haired girl spoke up. She had an incredulous look on her face. "Kid, you may be cute and all, but you are stepping over the lines. How long have you been in the alliance? Three days, right? And you still dare to invite people into it?!"

It could be said that Meguri Tomo had a rather interesting personality. She was usually hyperactive and cheerful, but sometimes, she took some matters to seriously. This was such a case.

In reality, not only her, but all the other members felt the same way. They all thought that what he wanted was absurd, but still didn't have the guts to say randomly enter the conversation. Of course, there were exceptions, such as Sa Ji. Having already fought with Issei, he thought he had an understanding of his strength. To him, Issei could probably defeat everyone in here with the exception of Sona, so he didn't think his wish was too excesise. After all, he had the strength to back it up.

Sona was slightly startled by Issei's question, but immediately after hearing Meguri Tomo's outburst, she snapped at her, "No one gave you the permission to speak. Go back to your seat."

"But..." Meguri Tomo tried to say something, albeit this time her tone was much weaker and meek.

"No buts!"

This time, without saying anything, she sat back down on her seat and started looking at her lap, as if it had become the most interesting thing in existence. In reality, she was burning with shame. To be reprimanded in front of so many people... by a girl not much older than her, at that!

But, in the end, she could only keep quiet. She knew that she was in no position to complain. Sona was much more stronger than her, and in this world that power meant everything, all she could do was to pull back in shame and grind her teeth.

Seeing that she had subdued the intrusive girl, Sona finally looked at Issei again, who was looking at her normally, as if he hadn't done anything outrageous. In fact, his expression was one of calmness and even slightly aloof.

She then sighed, "You want to invite a friend?"

"Yes," Issei nodded.

Sona took in a deep breath. She knew that in terms of power, even she was inferior to this twelve-years old. But, in the end, she just couldn't concede without putting up some resistance, or else she would have thrown all of her face away.

"You know that we have high standards, right? We can't just accept anyone just because that someone is your friend..."

Issei shook his head, "From my guesses, she could probably win over almost everyone here in a battle."

Xia Mei had the ability to detect negative intent. That meant that as long as the attack wasn't absurdly fast, she could avoid it. That gave her an impressive advantage, and, coupled with her strength that was equal to someone at the fifth stage of the Nascent Profound Realm, she would probably be able to keep up with someone of the eighth level in a battle.

When Sona heard Issei's words, her face brightened up slightly. "Is that so? What is her level of cultivation?"

"Third level of the Nascent Profound Realm."

As soon as those words left his mouth, everyone in the room started looking at Issei as if he was stupid. Not being able to hold it in anymore, one of the girls, Hana Mo, said, "Not be disrespectful or anything, Junior Brother Issei, but the person with the lowest cultivation here is the fourth level of the Nascent Profound Realm. Saying that she can beat us... isn't that a bit too far-fetched?"

Issei shook his head, "I already knew that from the start. That's why I had that much confidence when saying this."

At this point, everyone's eyes widened. Hana Mo continued, "Then what you mean to say is..."

"Yes," Issei didn't let her finish. "What I mean is that in the third level, she can beat those at the eighth."

Immediately after the words arrived at the ears of all the members present, they looked at Issei as if they had seen a ghost. At this moment, one of the members, the feral looking man, spoke up for the first time, "Kid, it's impossible to defeat something with a cultivation of over three level higher."

Issei then smirked as an idea came to his head, "Then what if I can prove it?"

"Huh? How so?"

"I'll temporarily seal my cultivation, placing me in the third level of the Nascent Profound Realm. You are on the eighth, right? Then, if I beat you, then that would prove to be possible."

Garo Loup's eyes widened slightly before smirking. "Are you sure about this, kiddo?"

This kid in front of him was too daring... not that he minded. He liked people who didn't know their limits. In the end, when he stepped on their defeated bodies and trampled their pride, it would feel even better

Issei smirked back. "Couldn't be more."

Garo Loup then looked back to Sona. "How about it, Boss? What do you say?"

Sona, the person in question, sighed as she looked back and forth between Issei and Garo Loup. Finally, she sighed as she said, "If that's so, the so be it."

 **Read and Review~! (Once again, reviewing only takes a few breaths of time (A few seconds for those who forgot), and it wouldn't hurt to write one, right? And yes, I know that I like reviews way too much, but what can I do? I just can't help it.)**


	34. The Top Of The Pecking Order!

**Only one announcement!**

 **Thank you, Guest. Your review was really helpful! I myself had long since forgotten about the amount of time that it took me to remember all those names, and the times when I had to look back and search for the cultivation levels were endless! So, I decided that in each chapter, I would post the cultivation realms along with the world spiritist levels. Furthermore, when mentioning a realm, I will first say it's classification. For example: "He was at the third realm, the True Profound Realm!"**

 **Also, I decided to give up on the Chinese measures of time, or at least most of them. Now, I'll only use the breath of time and incense stick worth of time when someone ancient, like an elder or an ancestor, speaks. That should be better, right? Or I might as well not use it at all... either way, I'm still deciding**

 **Now, for the info (By the way, I had made a mistake on chapter three. The Divine Profound Realm in fact comes after the Saint. Thanks for pointing it out!):**

 **Cultivation Realms – Elementary Profound Realm, Nascent Profound Realm, True Profound Realm, Spirit Profound Realm, Earth Profound Realm, Sky Profound Realm, Emperor Profound Realm, Tyrant Profound Realm, Sovereign Profound Realm, Saint Profound Realm and Divine Profound Realm.**

 **World Spiritist Levels – White-Cloak, Gray-Cloak, Blue-Cloak, Purple-Cloak, Gold-Cloak.**

* * *

Issei glared at Garo Loup with cold eyes. They were standing outside the mansion, in a field of grass. As the wind traveled through the air, the grass swayed along with it. Their azure-colored robes danced with the wind in a familiar fashion.

Not too far away, the rest of the members belonging to the Water Devil Alliance were standing, their attention constantly shifting between the girlish youth and the feral looking man. In reality, the contrast between the two was huge. One exuded an aura of delicacy and looked feminine, while the other had a berserk aura with feral-looking features.

Sona looked between the two of them before sighing. She knew that there was no way to convince them otherwise. In the end, all she could was to issue a few words of warning, "Don't go too hard on him."

To all the members, they felt that the words were directed at Garo Loup, but only Issei and Sona herself knew that the target of that sentence was actually him.

Sona knew clearly that Issei was freakishly powerful, even without using his spiritual energy. To her, she wouldn't be too surprise if he could beat people at the third realm, the True Profound Realm. In fact, she suspected that even those in the mid-stages of it would have trouble keeping Issei "company" if he were to go all out.

At this moment, Garo Loup spoke up with a toothy grin, which showed his larger-than-average canines, "Nothing to worry about, boss. I won't kill him or something."

Issei, on the other hand, gave a slight nod that only Sona noticed. Seeing that he had acknowledged her message, Sona finally stepped back. Seeing that there was nothing left to be said, Garo Loup's face grew wild.

At the same time, Issei also did as promised and forcefully sealed part of his cultivation, bringing him to the third level of the Nascent Profound Realm.

"Kid," Loup began as he cracked his knuckles, "You know, you are really foolish..." He then pushed up his sleeves, and got down to the ground, now standing on all fours. His eyes then shined savagely as he barked, "You just bought yourself a straight ticket to the cripple-land!"

As soon as those words left his mouth, he said, "Demonic Wolf Body!". Soon after, in his arms, thick hair started to grow. It soon became fur, a silver-white looking one. Following that, the fur started to appear all over his body, covering his arms, legs and torso. In the end, even his face was covered.

At that point, Issei felt that clothes weren't useful for him anymore. Even if he took off his robes, so what? His private parts were most likely completely covered, if the fur that he had on his arms and legs really did extend to his entire body.

At that point, Tsubaki Shinra let out a gasp, "Fellow Apprentice Brother Loup! Don't you think that starting with that martial skill is too much?!"

The man, or even better, beast, in question didn't bother listening to her. He only had his eyes set on his prey, and his prey alone. At the same time, he forcefully decreased his level of power. The reason why he had used Demonic Body Transformation from the start was to startle the kid and make him scared, and not to massacre him. After all, they had no previous enmities, so he didn't want to go to far.

But, when he looked at Issei's face, he saw that in reality, he didn't seem surprised in the least. He simply looked at him with an unfazed expression, just like one would look like at a dog.

Seeing that, Loup decided that this kid was too daring! He needed to be taught a lesson! Immediately, he condensed his spiritual power in his lower limbs and dashed forward, leaving behind only wind.

To all of the audience, this speed was so fast that their eyes could barely follow it, but to Issei, it was a whole different case. Issei himself didn't have too much strength when compared to normal cultivators, but speed? He fused his body with lightning, for God's sake! Who dares to supersede lightning, the most primordial force of natural in velocity and power, in speed?!

To Issei, who had previously used a partial Lightning Incarnation Transformation in his eyes, allowing him to see things with much more clarity, it was as if Loup was walking in slow motion!

This kind of speed... even if Loup had a dozen more legs, he would never be able to keep up with Issei if he was serious. In Issei eyes, Loup's speed that he took so much pride in, was, in fact, something to be ashamed of!

Not even bothering to enter the full lightning incarnation mode, Issei raised his left hand in front of him and brought his fingers close to one another, making it resemble a blade. He then slashed down.

"Heavenly Strike!"

At that point, the spiritual power that was contained within them exploded out. In that split second, Issei slashed down not once, but twice! It gave the impression that both slashes were thrown at the same instant!

Exactly, that was the third level of the Heavenly Double Swords Might; Heavenly Strike.

Normally, it could only be used with double swords, but Issei didn't deem Loup worthy enough to be slashed by Gan Jiang and Mo Ye. No, not even that. He wasn't even worthy of him using both hands!

As such, he emulated the Heavenly Strike with a single palm!

As the palm cut through the air twice, two large slashes created by the wind generated from his sweep and his spiritual energy appeared, flying in extreme speeds towards Loup!

When Loup saw those two, blade-like winds infused with spiritual power heading in his direction, he felt his scalp grow numb. Immediately, he jumped up, barely avoiding those two strikes. However, he didn't have time to celebrate as he heard a sequence of terrifying words.

"Heavenly Strike! Heavenly Strike! Heavenly Strike!"

Issei continuously sent out three barrages of Heavenly Strikes towards the airborne Loup, all the time using his left hand alone.

As Loup looked up, all he heard was the sound of screaming wind as he felt six huge slashes about to impact on him!

At that point, it was as if he was a little kid in the middle of a cross-fire of arrows! He had nowhere to go to!

"Dammit!" cursed Loup as he quickly brought out a piece of paper from his cosmos sack. Not even a second later, he sent the paper forward in front of him.

"Activate!"

The piece of paper, that seemed inoffensive, burst open, giving birth to a transparent, grayish-looking barrier that was suspend in mid-air. As soon as the six wind blades collided against the barrier, they dissipated, and the barrier only trembled a little.

Looking at the barrier in the air, Loup felt like dying. That piece of paper was in reality a talisman made by a Grey-cloak world spiritist. His family paid a high-price to get a set of those, and they were his most precious life-saving treasures!

Each one of them could temporally bring forth a Grey-colored spirit formation barrier. What was a gray-colored spirit formation?! Even a person on the fourth realm, the Spirit Profound Realm, would have trouble breaking it!

At that point, Issei looked at the barrier with slight surprise. He, being the apprentice of Shinso, who was a Blue-Cloak world spiritist, could recognize a spirit formation barrier with one glance.

"How interesting..." Issei muttered in amusement. However, that was temporary. He had priorities, and on the top of his to-do list was to show this puny werewolf persona just who was at the top of the pecking order!

Issei then smiled calmly as he raised his left hand once more. However, in Loup's eyes, Issei's calm smile was the same as the cruel laughter of a demon! He had a foreboding feeling that something bad was about to happen. He didn't even dare to dash forward again and was frozen on the spot.

And, he was right. In the next moment, Issei took a deep breath. Then, he started moving his left arm non-stop. The moves were so fast that one could only see the shadows left behind by them!

When he finally moved it for the umpteenth time, Issei finally stopped his arm, which happened to be pointing straight at Garo Loup.

"Heavenly Strike," Were the two simple, yet deadly, words that left his mouth. However, they were soon followed by massive sounds of the wind being broken apart as countless wind blades appeared all around him. Their target was one and the same- Garo Loup!

Looking at the countless amount of wind-blades, even the audience was frightened and took a step back, not to mention Garo Loup. The poor man could only run as fast as he could as he was chased by the wind-blades.

In that moment, he cursed Issei and his ancestors hundreds of times. He then cursed the wind-blades and then finally cursed his parents for not giving him an extra pair of legs so he could run faster.

Although Garo Loup was in an extremely deplorable situation, being chased after by wind-blades and all, the people on the audience couldn't help but to experience a strange feeling of schadenfreude as they looked at the running werewolf. After all, the scene was just too comical.

Thankfully for Loup, Issei, although having sent many, didn't really bother on placing too much power in them, so they dissipated quite quickly. In the end, only a few wind-blades managed to reach him. Sadly enough, each wind-blade packed quite a punch, and although his injuries weren't too deep, they weren't to light either. But, his fur wasn't just for show, as it managed to protect him quite well.

At the end, all that was left was an extremely hairy youth laying on the ground, blood dripping from the corner of his mouth. His robes were in drags, and his face was one of ultimate exhaustion.

Issei, on the other hand, was completely fine and hadn't moved from the same spot ever since the battle had begun.

Seeing that Loup had finally stopped, he casually strolled over to his collapsed body. Upon arriving, he looked down and shot him a happy smile.

"So, I believe that I won?"

Loup only looked at the youth with a dead-paned expression. He simply didn't have the strength to partake in a discussion at the moment.

Issei nodded happily as he said, "I'll take that as a yes."

He then sat down near Loup's head and said with a mysterious smile, "Well, this is my power when limited to the third level of the Nascent Profound Realm. Now, imagine it unsealed..."

Garo Loup's eyes suddenly widened as he looked at Issei in surprise. He had completely forgotten that he had limited his power! This... was this his power when limited?! Just how strong was this kid?!

"Now, I must say that there is no enmity between us, and I have no interest on making an enemy out of you," Issei begun as he turned around to face Garo Loup. At this moment, the rest of of the Water Devil Alliance was quickly approaching.

"So, how about this?" Issei said as he extend to Garo Loup his left hand. "Let's just forget about this battle, I admit that I went a little overboard. And... Let's become friends!"

 **Read and Review~! (I don't need to mention my love for reviews anymore, do I?)**


	35. Getting Rid Of Some Trash

**Guys, the next chapter is probably only coming out Tuesday or Wednesday, so don't expect anything tomorrow!**

* * *

"So, how about it? Can I invite someone in?" Issei asked the remaining members. After the fight, Garo Loup had agreed to not become enemies with Issei, and was now standing with the rest of the Water Devil Alliance members.

Sona sighed, "You have shown your strength, but that doesn't prove that she is just as strong as you, Junior Brother Issei."

Issei nodded, already expecting that answer. From the start, his primary objective was to settle his superiority. He wanted to show everyone that his girly looks were only for deceiving. And, just as he expected, everyone received the message loud and clear. They now knew that they shouldn't, in any circumstance, underestimate this boy.

"Then... how about this? I bring her into the quest this time and I'll protect her. If she gets hurt, than she won't join, but if I manage to protect her, then she becomes a permanent member. How is that?" Issei smiled as he asked.

"But still..." Sona said, still unsure.

Seeing that he still hadn't managed to convince her, Issei used his last resort. Passing his hand over his cosmos sack, he grabbed three boxes from it and threw them at Sona, who cached it.

Issei smiled at her, "If you allow her to join, they are yours," He said casually as he pointed at the boxes.

Sona looked at Issei strangely and opened the first box. However, as soon as she saw what was inside, her eyes widened. From her voice, the words "Nascent Bead..." came out.

Immediately after, she opened the other two boxes and saw that in each one, was one Nascent Bead. Her eyes widened even further, she looked at Issei, "This..."

The other members couldn't see what was in the box, so they were extremely curious, but Issei's next words satiated their curiosity and shocked them silly at the same time.

"Exactly. If she can join, this three Nascent Bead are yours," Issei smiled. Those three Nascent Beads were acquired from the cosmos sacks of Yan Sheng, that guy that tried to make a move on Xia Mei.

On his cosmos sack there were over seven Nascent Beads, so he didn't mind handing out three. Furthermore, he had a feeling that even if he had more, from his estimation, it would need over forty Nascent Beads to reach the next level. As such, if it were only three, it was still a sacrifice he could make.

"Nascent Bead?!" the fellow disciple of the Water Devil Alliance exclaimed before looking back at the box with widened eyes. Within their eyes, pure greed and longing could be see.

"Alright," Sona sighed. She was a person that didn't accept bribes, but this was just too good to pass, "If you can protect her, then I will allow her to enter."

Issei gave her a large smile, before saying, "So, can I go fetch her right now?"

Sona nodded, "Be back as soon as you can," she said. She then stopped a little, seemed to contemplate over something, before finally saying, "Before that, could you tell me just how you got this three beads?"

She knew better than anyone the anyone just how expensive this stuff was. Normally, in the school, only the top ten best core disciples and off-springs of elders would have such things. And, the most terrifying thing was that not too long ago, she heard that the son of an elder had disappeared.

As of this moment, she couldn't help but to wonder if Issei was somehow related to that. Given his strength, killing the son of an elder would be a trifling matter to him.

"Me?" Issei smiled as he turned back and looked at Sona with a straight face, "I was eating some soup on the food pavilion, and found these three beads floating there. It seems that my luck is just too good..."

When Sona heard that lie, she almost felt like coughing up blood. Did he just say that he found Nascent Beads on his food?!What the hell?! Who the hell finds Nascent Beads on their food?! Luck?! That's just a ridiculous lie!

And, the worst of all was that Issei said with a completely straight face. If it wasn't for the absurd contents, one would never notice that it was a lie.

"Ju-" Sona was about to say, but when she lifted up her head again to look at Issei, he was already gone. He had made use of the moment that she was shocked to escape, dodging her main question.

"Damn kid..." Sona muttered under her breath. She then looked around and saw that most of the members had expressions of disbelief on their faces.

After a while, Yura Tsubasa, the blue-haired girl, spoke, breaking the silence, "That was the worst excuse I have ever seen..."

All of the other members nodded, coming to the same conclusion.

However, it was at that moment that Garo Loup spoke up, "Wow! Boss, we must go the food pavilion this instant and order a lot of soup! We might also get lucky and find another Nascent Bead!" His face was one of happiness, and he looked quite proud at his idea.

Everyone at first thought that he was only kidding, cracking some jokes, but when they saw his earnest expression, they turned speechless. This guy... he didn't actually believe it, right?!

Sadly, this was indeed the truth. Garo Loup took pride in his speed and strength, but his intelligence left much to be desired. In fact, he was extremely gullible and hot-headed. Because of that, he couldn't see the obvious lie that Issei had said and actually believed it.

Sona just sighed as she looked at the man. From time to times, she felt like it hadn't been a good decision to let him enter the alliance. The amount of times when an opponent tricked him into a fight with taunts were already in the hundreds.

If it wasn't for his special lineage, she would never have accepted him into the alliance. She valued smart people and despised the dumb, but had made an exception for him.

In reality, although Garo Loup was indeed human, he was part werewolf. Just like vampires, werewolves was one of the other races aside from humans that could practice magic.

Furthermore, the amount of true werewolves on the Sky Profound Continent probably didn't surpass two. In fact, it wouldn't be much of a surprise if there weren't any.

As for Garo Loup, it's just that the great-grandfather of his great-grandfather was a werwolf. Because of that, the family had some werewolf blood running through their veins.

It made them faster, stronger and gave them faster reflexes. The only problem was that they would normally be a little less smarter than average. Garo Loup was an exception to that rule; He was much, much dumber than the average.

Normally, the werewolf blood within the people of Garo Loup's family would lay dormant and couldn't be activated, but because of the martial skill "Demonic Wolf Body", which was created by one of his ancestors, he could temporarily activate his lineage.

When Sona learned of that, she thought that he would be a good addition to the alliance, so she invited him in, to which he accepted when she said that he would be able to ear meat whenever he wanted.

But, as the time passed, she started to see just how stupid Garo Loup was in reality. The amount of troubles that he brought them daily was no trifling matter.

As such, in order to prevent any necessary troubles, she quickly said to Loup, hoping that he would be stupid enough to fall in another lie, "The soup that he chose is probably the Saint Soup, which was only available yesterday. Even if you go, there won't be any left, and you won't be able to get it."

Hearing the constant flow of bullshit, the members of the Water Devil Alliance felt overwhelmed, but then quickly understood Sona's way of thinking. It would be best to just trick him again.

Garo Loup, on the other hand, became down-cast, "Is that so..." He muttered in a saddened tone. It was obvious that he also completely believed in Sona's lie.

Back with Issei, he was still making his way back to the school. He was excited to tell his only friend in the school, Xia Mei, the good news. However, just as he made his way to the entrance, he saw a familiar face that he hadn't seen in a long time.

It was Jiao Lei, that bastard that knocked him out and threw him into that forest, leaving him to die!

However, when he saw him, his eyes took a dangerous glint. In his heart, he was celebrating. _I had just been searching for some scum to kill... this is perfect!_

He quickly hid behind a tree and observed Jiao Lei from afar. Apparently, he was preparing to leave the school, probably on some mission.

While Issei looked at him, he had already made his legs enter the partial Lightning Incarnation mode, enhancing his speed greatly. He was going for the kill!

At first, when he was first thrown into the forest, he had made his decision to pay Jiao Lei back, but not to kill him. At the time, he still hadn't killed before, and was too innocent.

But now? He was actually looking forward to it! You see, Issei was a person that liked to settle scores fast. That person had clearly left him to die in the forest, so Issei must be a gentle-man and return the favor, right?

As for getting Xia Mei fast, he wasn't too bothered by it. For him to kill Jiao Lei was only a matter of seconds, and even if he arrived late, he had already given Sona three Nascent Beads! He didn't believe that she would nitpick on him if he was late.

He then concentrated his attention on Jiao Lei, waiting for him to leave the school. It didn't take him long to convince the guards that he could leave, and a few minutes later, he was already walking down the road.

Jiao Lei walked calmly, and had a thoughtful expression on his rather plain features. "It has been so long since Yan Sheng disappeared. I'm starting to get worried..."

 _Oh?_ Issei's interest perked up when he heard that, _Isn't Yan Sheng that fellow that I killed before? Could it be that he is friends with Jiao Lei?_

Jiao Lei's next word confirmed Issei's thoughts.

"Damn that bastard. He promised me that he would bring me a heavenly beauty some days ago so we could play with her, but he has disappear. Now I'll have to go to brothels," He cursed with anger. Apparently, what he was truly annoyed about was the fact that although Yan Sheng had promised to bring him a beauty, he still hadn't done so.

However, when Issei heard that, his expression turned nasty. _Beauty? Promised to bring? Don't tell me... Senior Sister Mei?!_

Thinking that far, Issei's face turned dark. He had initially wanted to kill this bastard, but now? No matter what, he was going through with it!

After a couple more minutes, Issei finally decided that the distance between them and the school was pretty good. Smiling, he walked out of the woods and stood in front of Jiao Lei. He had his hands behind his back, and was looking at Jiao Lei with a smile.

"Huh?" Jiao Lei stopped and looked at Issei. A second later, his eyes widened to the size of dinner plates, "You.. you...you!" His face was one of huge surprise. His body trembled, and sweat started to run down his forehead! He looked as if he had seen a ghost!

"Long time no see, Senior Brother Lei," Issei mockingly greeted 'politely', "How have you been?"

Jiao Lei, however, didn't bother answering as he looked around. He knew that if he was alone, he was no match for this kid. Furthermore, he had tried to kill him before. There was no way the kid was here by coincidence! This could only mean... that he wanted revenge!

"Dammit!" Jiao Lei finally screamed as he tried to run away in the opposite direction. However, before he could walk more than three steps, he felt something strange. His body seemed lighter... and he felt like he had less blood on his body...

His eyes then widened as terror filled his eyes. His head moved slowly to his side, and his face got even uglier when he saw the left side of his body. Where his arm normally was, there was only a stump left on his shoulder. From it, fresh blood flowed out. His arm... had completely disappeared!

"Looking for this?" A sweet voice came from behind him. He slowly turned his head around, only to see Issei casually waving his severed arm at him.

Issei then casually lifted it up in the air, and rushed forward in unbelievable speeds. When he was close, he swiped the severed arm at his face, making a loud, bang-like noise rung out.

He just bitchslapped Jiao Lei with his own arm!

The youth in question was sent tumbling to the ground by the slap. When he stopped, he tightly gripped his the stump on his shoulder, trying to stop the blood from flowing and making his remaining hand be covered in blood in the process

Since he was a cultivator, although the pain was great, he still could deal with a severed arm without screaming. After all, cultivators were above normal humans in every and all aspect.

But, when he looked at Issei, he couldn't help but to push himself further away from him. That's because when he looked at Issei, all he saw was a death god, that ready to kill him in any given second.

Issei's clothes fluttered with the wind, and so did his long hair. His eyes were sharp, and his eyebrows were like swords! The aura around him wasn't of a kid at all, but instead, it was a of a bloodthirsty devil!

Issei approached him slowly, as if he had all the time in the world. His steps were light, but to Jiao Lei, each and every one of them were like the claps of thunders, making his body tremble.

When Issei was finally standing in front of Jiao Lei, he stopped and took out a sword from his cosmos sack.

Seeing Issei taking out the sword, he felt his scalp grow numb. Looking up at the death god of a child, all he could was to stutter, "Wh-wha-t a-are you go-oing to d-do?" From beneath him, yellowish-looking liquid began to appear, covering the ground. It reeked of the foul smell of urine.

Issei, however, gave him a cold smile. "Getting rid of some trash." And with that, he swung his sword down.

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	36. Terrifying Theory

**Hey guys! You can expect a new chapter on Friday!**

 **Cultivation Realms – Elementary Profound Realm, Nascent Profound Realm, True Profound Realm, Spirit Profound Realm, Earth Profound Realm, Sky Profound Realm, Emperor Profound Realm, Tyrant Profound Realm, Sovereign Profound Realm, Saint Profound Realm and Divine Profound Realm.**

 **World Spiritist Levels – White-Cloak, Gray-Cloak, Blue-Cloak, Purple-Cloak, Gold-Cloak.**

* * *

Issei looked at the headless corpse in front of him and sighed. He then swiped Gan Jiang down, cleaning it from the blood. However, he could see that when he used it to kill, he could feel that its aura had grown stronger.

Looking at Gan Jiang, a theory started forming in his head. In the previous times, he had always felt that whenever he killed with Gan Jiang and Mo Ye, it would somehow change; either it's cultivation level would grow higher by a small amount, or it would become even sharper.

At first, he thought it was coincidence, but now he was sure. There was definitely something mysterious and obscure about this sword. However, when he thought of a certain theory, he couldn't help but to shudder.

That's because… the theory he had thought of was just too terrifying, even for Issei. He then decided to pay more attention to his sword the next time he drew blood, and see if his theory was correct. Because, if it was, it would mean that his sword was nothing short of a bloodthirsty, cursed, treasure.

Looking at his sword with complicated emotions, he sighed again and simply let it recede back into tattoo form.

Afterward, he crouched by Jiao Lei's headless corpse and casually grabbed his blood-stained cosmos sack. With it in hand, he sent it into the Sky Poison Pearl's inner words to have it make company to the other five cosmos sacks in there that he had gotten from his kills.

Afterward, he entered the Lightning Incarnation mode and burned down the body and the head, leaving no evidence behind. To be sure, he also scattered the ashes around.

"Better be save then sorry," Issei muttered as he kicked the ashes, scattering them in the air, only for them to be taken away by a gust of wind, forever to travel the endless plains of the Profound Sky Continent.

He then recalled back to the time he slashed down and killed Jiao Lei, and noticed that the period of hesitation was smaller than the one he had when he killed Yan Sheng and his goons.

"Well, at least he was useful for something in the end," Issei sighed, turned around and resumed his running, as if nothing had even happened. In fact, because of his spiritual power that surrounded his body, his clothes didn't even have a single drop of blood. No one could ever guess that he had just committed homicide a couple of seconds ago.

Issei ran quickly, not taking long for him to arrive at the entrance of the school. Without stopping, he took out the Water Devil token, let the guards see it, and entered the school.

Inside, he immediately turned around and headed to the cultivation tower. Xia Mei had told him that she usually spent most of her time in there, in one of the public rooms. Since there there were a lot of public rooms, there was never a shortage of them, and Xia Mei usually only kept going to the one whose number was twenty-three; mostly because the spiritual energy inside wasn't as good as in the other ones, so there wasn't any competition for it, and she could keep it as a stable location.

Entering the cultivation tower, Issei quickly searched for room twenty-three and, after finding it, knocked on the door.

Not long after, a sweet and charming voice rang out, "Who is it?"

"It's me, Issei, Senior Sister Mei," Issei quickly answered, glad that she was indeed on the one she said she was.

"Issei?" A surprised voice came out before the door suddenly opened, revealing Xia Mei on her normal attire. She had her usual robes on, and seemed as beautiful as ever.

"Good morning, Senior Sister Mei," Issei pleasantly smiled as his face brightened up. No matter whenever he saw her, his mood would grow better just by looking at her heavenly beauty.

"It's really you!" She exclaimed in surprise. She remembered that Issei had told her that he had important business for today, so he wouldn't be able to spend time with her. Because of that, she had no other choice but to gloomily head back to the cultivation tower to cultivate. To her, she liked spending time with Issei much more than cultivating.

After all, to most, cultivation was a boring, tedious and lonely process where you sat down, meditated and made the spiritual energy inside the body flow through their profound veins and entrances repeatedly. There wasn't really much fun in doing that, but it was necessary to raise one's strength. There were even experts who spent years cultivating without moving from the same place just in order to make a breakthrough.

In fact, Issei was the odd one. He never had to circulate the spiritual power inside his body, since it happened unconsciously for him, and it never stopped, making it a continues process. That wasn't because of his profound system type, the Grim Reaper's Mark, but instead it was a mutation in his profound veins. Not only did it have eight hundred and sixty four profound entrances, eight hundred and ten more than all the other cultivators in existence, but also came with the bonus that he could practice the entire day, non-stop.

Obviously, as mentioned some time ago, there were some limitations. For example, if he were to use his spiritual power, like in a martial skill, they would automatically stop circulating and would only start again five minutes after he finished using the martial skill.

In other words, in battles, he didn't have such advantage, since he would constantly be using martial skills. But, in the end, it was still a huge advantage over other cultivators to be able to practice day and night, only stopping when using martial skills. Sadly, the energy necessary for Issei to go up a level was much more than to a normal person, so there were some bad points.

Xia Mei, on the other hand, was like the others and didn't have the advantage that Issei had, and had to use the conventional way to increase her cultivation level. As such, to her, just like how it was to many others, it was something incredibly boring.

It could even be said that she was glad that Issei interrupted her cultivation time to talk with her.

"What are you doing here? Didn't you have something to do?" Xia Mei asked, puzzled at what Issei was doing. The day before, she had insisted a lot to spend time with him, but he kept saying that there was an extremely important matter and he just couldn't miss it, so she was rather interested as to why he was here.

"I indeed had," Issei smiled before continuing, "But, some things happened, and now I have something to ask you."

"Oh? What is it?" Xia Mei asked, growing more and more interested at what the hell was happening.

"Do you truly want to be part of the Water Devil Alliance?" A mysterious smile appeared on his features.

"Huh?" Xia Mei asked puzzledly. "Of course I do."

Issei then smiled brightly, "Then, you have fifteen minutes to pack your things and to meet me at the school's entrance."

"What? Pack my things?" Xia Mei was startled. Could it be…

"I managed to convince the leader of the organization to allow you to go in a mission with us. If you do well, the she will accept you in," Issei quickly added.

Xia Mei's eyes widened in surprise, before changing over to happiness and extreme elation. She then hugged Issei fiercely, and because of the height difference and by being taken aback by surprise, his face practically ended up between her bosom and neck, "Thank you so much, Junior Brother Issei!"

After that, she quickly ran out of the Cultivation Tower and headed to her room. She had no time to spare.

Issei, on the other hand, kept motionless on the same spot as he recalled what just happened. When he was hugged, he could feel two soft and rather big and enticing things pressing again his face; in other words, Xia Mei's twin peaks. He then shook his head and sighed, "Women… it's just as Shinso said, no matter where, every part of they body can be a deadly killing weapon for men..."

After say that, calmly walked out of the tower and went to the entrance to wait for Xia Mei.

Thankfully, he didn't really need to wait long. Not even a couple of minutes had passed since he arrived, he could already see the graceful and enticing form of Xia Mei heading over hurriedly.

"Junior Brother Issei!" She waved her hand as she approached him. By her side was her cosmos sack. On it, she had practically placed all of the things she could in her dorm that belonged to her, because of the hurry. There were clothes, medicines, potions, pills and even some silverware that she accidentally grabbed.

Issei smiled as he saw her arrive, "Ready?"

She nodded enthusiastically, and deep anticipation could be seen on her face. After all, she was just a couple of minutes from meeting the members of the famous Water Devil Alliance. Only a complete idiot wouldn't be excited. That, or the person was just too haughty to bother with them. Xia Mei, on the other hand, was neither, so her excitement was justified.

Issei nodded and walked over to the guards. Seeing that they were the same from the previous two times, he sighed. That would make things go more smoothly.

Holding up his Water Devil token, he said, "She is with me."

Both of them nodded, and made way for them to pass. Xia Mei was excited, since this was the first time she had received such special treatment since arriving in this school. Although she didn't like to be treated like that at home, when she was at school, it felt rather pleasant.

After that, both of them finally left the school grounds boundary and made their way to the mansion where the Water Devil Alliance was staying. Since they were both cultivators, and consequently had high-stamina and were extremely fast when running, they quickly arrived.

When they arrived at the door, Xia Mei's heart was already quickly beating. Her excitement level s were already over the top.

Seeing her condition, Issei gave her a calm smile, "Try to control your breathing. You're just meeting a few people, there's no need to be that excited. Furthermore, if you were to be calm, their impression of you would be much better."

Needless to say, hearing such words coming out of eleven years old mouth would make anyone surprised. Furthermore, the person he directed those words to was not only taller than him, but also older than him.

Xia Mei, however, had already grown used to this. Although she still called Issei as Junior Brother Issei, she knew that in her heart, she called him as Senior Brother Issei. After all, he was her senior in all aspects but age. No matter if it was cultivation, intelligence, maturity… the only thing that still kept her from calling him Senior Brother Issei was his age.

After hearing Issei words, Xia Mei nodded as she understood that those words made sense. She then forcefully calmed her breathing, and made sure to calm her mind. In the end, although she was nowhere close to Issei, who was able to enter a completely stable, pure and calm state of mind after a couple of minutes, she still managed to make some progress, and was nowhere as excited as before, at the very least.

Noticing that she had finally calmed down, Issei sent her one last smile before he said, "Ready?"

She nodded, "Ready."

Issei then nodded as he knocked on the door, and after hearing Sona's voice saying come in, he opened it, entering the building with Xia Mei by his side.

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	37. Arriving at Stone Dagger City

**New chapter tomorrow**!

 **Cultivation Realms – Elementary Profound Realm, Nascent Profound Realm, True Profound Realm, Spirit Profound Realm, Earth Profound Realm, Sky Profound Realm, Emperor Profound Realm, Tyrant Profound Realm, Sovereign Profound Realm, Saint Profound Realm and Divine Profound Realm.**

 **World Spiritist Levels – White-Cloak, Gray-Cloak, Blue-Cloak, Purple-Cloak, Gold-Cloak.**

* * *

With the wind blowing on his face, Issei was riding a profound beast as he made his way to the Stone Dagger City along with the rest of the Water Devil Alliance. His cyan-colored clothes fluttered in the wind, intertwining with his hair, giving this scene a picturesque feeling to it.

Behind him, seated on the same profound beast, was Xia Mei. Her delicate and jade-like arms were wrapped around Issei's waist as means of support. Her heavenly face had a hint of blush to it, being in such close proximity to the young boy.

By Issei's side, in another profound beast, were Issei's two other friends, Sa Ji and Sona. Both of them were seated on the same profound beast, with Sona leading, and, as such, Sa Ji had his arms wrapped around her lithe waist.

However, unlike Xia Mei, his face wasn't bashful in the slightest. In fact, if one were to look at his face alone, they would think he was being tortured. He had a look of despair, fear and cautiousness. After all, the one person in the world he was most afraid of was none other that Sona herself.

Of course, he wasn't willing to mount on the same mount as her, but he kinda had no choice. A couple of hours ago, when they were preparing to leave the mansion and head to the Stone Dagger City in order to enter the later expert's tomb, they held a meeting to decide who would ride with whom.

However, the meeting wasn't peaceful as almost all of the girls insisted on riding with Sa Ji, with the exception of Bennia, Tsubaki, Xia Mei and Sona. During the discussion, things took a turn for the worse as the atmosphere in the air started to get bloodthirsty. Because of that, Sona decided to end the discussion by having him ride with her.

Although the girls weren't really pleased with the results, they still felt satisfied that Sa Ji at least wasn't on the same mount as one of their rivals, so they didn't complain much. Also, even if they did complain, so what? Sona was the leader, and in the end, whatever she said had to be followed.

As for who Issei would ride with, the way it was decided was completely different from Sa Ji. After all, they all knew that Issei had personally brought Xia Mei over, so there was probably some history between them. As such, they were immediately picked to ride together. Both of them were pretty much fine with it, so in the end, all ended well.

In reality, after a while, Sona came to the decision that next time they went somewhere, she was definitely getting individual mounts for everyone. It wasn't the first time that such a competition happened to decide who would go with Sa Ji, and she was getting pretty full of it.

The mount she had gotten them was the Red Tiger Fierce Beast. The Red Tiger Fierce Beast name's was pretty much self-explanatory. In short, it was a tiger, long enough to fit two persons, that was also red. Aside from that, it's cultivation level was low, only in the middle stages of the first realm, the Elementary Profound Realm. Also, it's attack power left much to be desired, but, in the end, it was only a temporary mount and his speed was up to Sona's standards. Furthermore, they were pretty cheap.

With its speed, they should be able to be at Stone Dagger City in a day or two at most. After they were traveling for some time, they arrived at a random city that marked half of the trip to the Stone Dagger City. Since it was already dark, they decided to spend the night in of the inns there, the Azure Luck Inn.

Each room there wasn't really big, so they were divided in groups of two for each room. Sona, in order to avoid the discussion that happened earlier that day, decided to just get this matter done quickly by making the groups the same as the partners they had while on the mount.

So, with gloomy faces, most of the girls of the Water Devil Alliance were forced to watch as Sa Ji, who was almost in the state of crying, was carried to his room by Sona. Most of them were burning with jealousy, wishing that they would be the one sleeping with Sa Ji.

Issei, of course, was assigned to the same room as Xia Mei. The room, as mentioned previously, wasn't too big. It had two beds, and between them, a night stand. Aside from that, there was actually nothing else.

There two kinds of rooms in most inns. The one for common people and the ones for cultivators. The ones for common people would usually have a wardrobe or a drawer for them to place their baggage on, but cultivators had no need for that as they had their cosmos sacks, with their inner storage space.

Although most cultivators only had low-grade cosmos sacks, they still had a lot of space, about three cubic meters. Higher grades one had six, seven and even ten cubic meters. There were even some with a hundred of cubic meters, but their prices were astronomical, so not many people would be willing to buy them.

The concept behind cosmos sack was pretty simple. Normally, a World Spiritist, normally a White-cloak (Lowest ranking) or a Gray-cloak (One rank above white) would buy a normal bag made of cloth and place a Spirit Formation within them using their spirit power. That spirit formation would have space-bending abilities, being capable to expand the sack's inner space. After that, they would sell these bags to merchants, earning a considerable sum of money.

As for cosmos sacks with a hundred cubic meters, their stock was really limited. That was because they could only be made by Purple-cloak (Above Blue-cloak, which is above Gray-cloak) and Gold-cloak (Above Purple-cloak) World Spiritists, and the only country in the Sky Profound Continent that had such high levels world Spiritists was the Divine Phoenix Country, which was also the leader of the Sky Profound Alliance.

Such alliance encompassed all of the countries in the Sky Profound Continent with the exception of the Country Of The Nine Provinces, where Issei was at.

Anyways, what was important was that the rooms that cultivators used were normally less sumptuous than the ones non-cultivators used, which was why they were usually cheaper and also smaller.

Issei, who, although having a matured personality, was still oblivious to the Man and Woman relations, had no qualms about sleeping in the same room as a female, and was quick to fall asleep. Of course, even then, he still kept his senses on high-alert, in order to quickly react if an intruder were to break in.

Xia Mei, however, wasn't as oblivious as Issei, and was also flustered at the though of sleeping in the same room as him, but it was short-lived. After a moment of introspection, she managed to calm herself by convincing her heart that Issei was just like a little brother to her, or older brother, depending on the situation. The important was the fact that they had a family-like relationship, so with that thought, she was able to calm down her erratic heart.

On the following morning, all of them mounted on their profound beasts, which had spend the night at a stable, and headed out. This time, however, the mount's speed was lower compared to the day before, given that they had previously spent the entire time running non-stop. Even with resting for an entire night, it was still not enough for them to enter their peak condition.

In the end, although fast, they were only Normal-ranked Fierce profound beasts. Also, Profound Beasts, just like cultivators, were divided in rankings.

Firstly, there were to main types of profound beasts. They were the Fierce beasts and the Desolate Profound beasts. The main difference in them was the fact that Desolate Beasts were much stronger, faster and, the most important of all, were able to control spiritual power.

Fierce Beasts had spiritual power, but they were not able to control them out of their body, and weren't able to use them to damage other beings. In the end, all they could do was to use it to enhance their own speed and strength, so it was pretty much wasted on them.

As for Desolate Beasts, the situation was different. They were able to interface with their spiritual energy and manipulate it into various attacks. For example, Desolate beasts with ice affinity could create spears out of ice, ice-shields and many other things.

Aside from being raked in either Desolate beast or Fierce beast, there were still two more rankings. The first, and more important raking, was the raking of their cultivation. For example, Desolate or Fierce beasts with the power of an Elementary Profound Realm practitioner were called Elementary Desolate beasts and Elementary Fierce beasts. As for those with the power of practitioner in the third realm, the True Profound Realm, they were called True Desolate beasts and True Fierce beasts. This applied to all levels of cultivation.

Normally, even if a Fierce beast had the cultivation realm of the Spirit Profound Realm, the fourth realm, they would still be no match for the Desolate Beasts in the Elementary Profound Realm. That showed just how important controlling spiritual power was.

Furthermore, Fierce and Desolate beasts also had another type of rankings. They were, in the order from the weakest to the strongest, Normal-ranked, General-ranked, King-ranked, Primordial-ranked, Primal-ranked and Immortal-ranked.

These rankings were used to compare the battle prowess between Fierce and Desolate beasts of the same realm. For example, if both beasts were in the Earth Profound Realm (The fifth one), what would decide their strength would be their secondary raking. As such, if a Normal-ranked one were to fight, for example a King-ranked one, the Normal-ranked one was sure to die.

Of course, this only applied to those within the same realm. Even if a king-ranked profound beast of the True Profound Realm were to fight a Normal-ranked one from the Spirit Profound Realm, the King-ranked one would suffer a crushing defeat. The only type of beasts that could defeat beasts ranked in a higher realm than them were the Primordial-ranked ones onwards.

As for the Red Tiger Fierce Beast, it was a Normal-ranked Elementary Fierce beast, which means, in kind words, below average. In harsher words, they would be called pretty much trash and cannon-fodder when compared to other beasts.

But, in the end, it was all Sona could afford, since the prices would sky-rocket for the ones above the Normal-ranked beasts. And, since they were only using it for a short trip, sh wasn't willing to spend an absurd amount of money.

And, it was after a few more hours riding the relatively tired Fire Tiger Fierce Beast that they arrived in the Stone Dagger City. The city was big, and was surrounded by a big and imposing stone wall. On top of the wall, in regular intervals, there were daggers carved in the wall itself standing up, giving off a feeling of deterrence.

The city's entrance wasn't too flashy, but wasn't too shabby either. It consisted of two big doors that opened a whole on the seemingly impenetrable stone walls.

As they arrived, Sona pulled her mount over to Issei's own and said to the young boy, "Do you see that wall? It has much more defensive power than you can imagine. Surrounding it is a Spirit Formation barrier set up by a World Spiritist. It is extremely strong and sturdy, and it is the city's main line of defense."

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	38. Fire Blaze Sect VS Black Sword School

**New chapter tomorrow**!

 **Cultivation Realms – Elementary Profound Realm, Nascent Profound Realm, True Profound Realm, Spirit Profound Realm, Earth Profound Realm, Sky Profound Realm, Emperor Profound Realm, Tyrant Profound Realm, Sovereign Profound Realm, Saint Profound Realm and Divine Profound Realm.**

 **World Spiritist Levels – White-Cloak, Gray-Cloak, Blue-Cloak, Purple-Cloak, Gold-Cloak.**

* * *

"Spirit Formation?" Issei muttered as he looked at the city walls. After living with Shinso for a long time, he was rather capable of identifying them, since Shinso was a Blue-cloak World Spiritist, after all.

And, upon looking at it closely, he could indeed see a faint, gray-colored barrier on the surface of the wall. Spirit Formations normally had the same color as the World Spiritist's rank, so that would mean that the person who cast this particular Spirit Formation would be Gray-cloak World Spiritist.

Sona then nodded, and said, "Either way, the expert's tomb is close to the city, a couple kilometers from here. However, it's only going to open in about five hours, so we should probably go to the city first and get some rest."

"Alright," Issei then stirred his mount and drove in to the city along with the rest of the Water Devil Alliance group.

There, they chose an inn, the Red Dragon Inn, and lodged in. This time, however, everyone got their separate rooms. As such, there wasn't much fight to decide who would stay with Sa Ji, something that Issei was grateful for.

Upon entering his room, Issei sat down cross-legged and started to meditate. After spending so many days on the road, he was a little mentally fatigued.

As he meditated, he also took out one of the cosmos sacks he acquired from his previous kills; It was Jiao Lei's one.

After opening, he pulled out three wood cases. In each of them, there was a Nascent Bead. After that, he placed the three of them in front of him.

Moving his hand, he opened the one on the right and grabbed the small, circular bead inside. Just like the previous time, it was overflowing with spiritual power.

Without a moment's thought, Issei opened his mouth and threw it inside. He then closed his eyes and started to circulate his spiritual energy through his profound veins and dantian. Soon, the energy from within the Nascent Bead exploded out and immediately flowed to his dantian.

There, it stayed put for a while, before slowly being carried away by Issei's own flow of spiritual power. After that, it traveled through his profound veins along with his own spiritual power.

With time, the alien spiritual power that originated from the Nascent Bead started to slowly become Issei's own spiritual power, filling up his reserves.

That was the process of refining a cultivation resource. In short, it consisted of consuming the power of a cultivation resource and slowly making it one's own spiritual power, by circulating it within one's profound veins and dantian.

"As I thought..." Issei muttered when he finished refining the bead, "My situation is just too troublesome... I'll probably need over forty more Nascent Beads in order to go up a level..."

Sighing, he grabbed the two remaining beads and threw them into his mouth at the same time. Like before, they were quickly and swiftly refined.

After that, Issei couldn't help but to sigh once more. His path of martial arts surely was much more complicated and filled with trials then other people's, huh?

And, while he was immersed deep in his thoughts, he heard some knocking on the door.

"Junior Brother Issei?" A sweet and warm voice asked from the other side of the door.

A smile crept up on Issei's mouth as he got up from his sitting position and opened the door, "Do you need me for something, Senior Sister Mei?"

Xia Mei nodded, "Yes, Sona is calling you. We need to depart to go the tomb."

"Oh?" Issei opened his mouth in surprise. When cultivating, he didn't really pay attention to the time. Because of that, he was unaware that five hours had passed since he first ate the first Nascent Bead.

"Then let's go," Issei walked out of his room, closed the door and followed Xia Mei outside. The Water Devil Alliance was just right in front of the inn's entrance, waiting for Issei.

Seeing his arrival, Sona nodded, "Let's go," She then climbed up on her beast with Sa Ji and started heading to the to expert's tomb.

Issei did the same, and climbed on his profound beast with Xia Mei.

A couple of minutes later, they had already left the city grounds. In the distance, Issei could already make out the abstract shape of a large building. After a while, the landscape started to turn into that of a desert. The sun above kept sending scorching heat-wave and heat wave upon them.

However, just as they were about to reach the tomb, Sona suddenly stopped dead in her tracks. Seeing their leader stop, everyone followed suit.

"What is it, Senior Sister Sona?" Issei asked as he brought his mount close to hers.

Sona, on the other hand, said nothing as she pointed to her right. Issei looked over to the direction she was pointing to, and saw a rather interesting scene.

There, a youth, about seventeen or eighteen years old, was standing up-right. By his side were three other youths. They all wore fiery red robes with a purple sash. Their faces were earnest.

Right in front of these group was another group of youths. This ones, however, were wearing black robes with golden sword-like marks all around their robes. They all had an aloof look to them, as if they were looking down on everything in existence.

The one that seemed to be the leader of the youths in black took a step forward and said to the group of the youths in red.

"You puny Fire Blaze Sect disciples, what do you think you are doing here? This is my territory. Get out of here," The youth's voice was arrogant to the extreme, and he had the bearing of a tyrant.

One of the red-robed youths, the youngest looking one, stepped forward angrily, "Who do you think you are?"

"Me?" The youth in black laughed, "I'm a Core Disciple from the Black Sword School, Hua Yui."

"Core Disciple of the Black Sword School?" At that moment, a rather surprised look appeared on the red-robed youth. The arrogant youth in front of him was actually... someone so high ranked. After all, the Black Sword School was only second to the number one school, the Azure Lightning School. To be a Core Disciple meant that this Hua Yui was truly not simple.

Hua Yui then snarled, "Stop asking questions. My time is limited. Get out of my sight, fast."

"You damn..." The youth in red said. He seemed like he was only one step away from attacking the black robed youth, Hua Yui. He was boy on the peak of his youth, and happened to be impulsive. He just couldn't stand such arrogant people.

However, before he could make his move, one of the youths in red, a tall and imposing youth, placed his arm in front of him. "Don't be rash, Xue Yan."

That same youth in red then gave Hua Yui a cold look, "It seems like the Black Sword School has already monopolized the late expert's tomb. We will head back now."

He then turned around and started walking away. The other youths in red also gave Hua Yui a dark look, but in the end, turned around and started following that youth in red from before.

However, before they could even take ten more steps, Hua Yui's voice traveled through the air, "Stop."

The tall and imposing youth in red from before stopped and looked over at Hua Yui with contained anger, "Is there something you want?"

Hua Yui then gave a wicked grin as he pointed at the young youth in red, Xue Yan, "This kid disrespected me. I want you all to kneel down and ask for forgiveness."

"What?!" Xue Yan exclaimed. He was already mad at this Hua Yui person, but now he was even angrier. Did he think he was some kind of god to order people to kneel?!

But, just like the previous time, the same youth in red from before stopped him with his arm.

"Brother Xue Long, what are you doing? Do you expect me to just take this insult?!" Xue Yan exclaimed as he looked enraged at the youth in red, Xue Long.

Xue Long, however, ignored him as he looked at Hua Yui and pleaded, "Fellow cultivator Hua Yui, please forgive my brother's ignorance. But, we are already leaving. Could you please give me some face and let me leave with some dignity?"

Differently from his brother Xue Yan, Xue Long wasn't hot blooded at all. He had already heard of Hua Yui before, and knew that they weren't a match in terms of power. As such, he was trying his best to avoid a conflict.

Sadly, Hua Yui had no such intentions, "Give you face?!" he exclaimed and then started laughing, "Why should I? If I say that you should kneel, you kneel!"

Hearing Hua Yui's words, Xue Long's face darkened slightly. "I have already asked for forgiveness. There is no prior enmity between us. Can't you just let us go?"

In the end, Xue Long wasn't willing to kneel down. He still had his pride, and he wasn't about to throw it away. In this world, you should only kneel to your parents, ancestors and master. Aside from them, a man must never kneel to anyone! That was a common concept of this world. Something that everyone was aware of. Hua Yui was no exception, and this was exactly why he wanted them to kneel. He was a cruel and sadistic person, and loved to torture others. He wanted them to suffer complete humiliation!

Hua Yui sneered as his face took a darker and more sadistic turn, "You damn brat. You are wasting my time. Now, kneeling won't be enough! You must now kneel and then hand me your cosmos sacks!"

Taking a deep breath, Xue Long said through clenched teeth,"Fellow cultivator Hua Yui, don't force my hand here," This Hua Yui was just too tyrannical! Forcing others to kneel and give their things just because they talked back! What sort of perverted bastard was this?

"Force your hand?" A wicked smile appeared on Hua Yui's face, "Do you think I'm scared of you?!"

He then looked back a the youths in black beside him, "You guys! This idiots are bothering me! Kill them!" He then pointed at Xue Yan and Xue Long, "Also, leave this one alive. I have plans for them."

The youths in black nodded solemnly, "As you wish, Young Master Yui," All of them then took out their weapons and placed themselves between Hua Yui and the disciples from the Fire Blaze Sect.

"Dammit!" Xue Long cursed as he placed his hand by his cosmos sack and got a sword from within. It was around 154 centimeters long, with a black blade. This was his treasured sword that he received from his father, the Black Dragon's Might. It was a True Profound Realm weapon (Above Nascent), and was extremely valuable to him.

Following Xue Long, the other youths also got their weapons. Most of them either used sabers or swords. Xue Yan, on the other hand, had gotten a halberd out. It, similarly to the Black Dragon's Might, was also given to him by his father. It was also of the True Profound Realm.

At that moment, the group of youths in black started their attack. One of the youths in black concentrated his spiritual power in his sword and roared.

"Sky Crushing Slash!"

He slash in a horizontal arc. The spiritual power contained in the sword exploded forward, turning into a sword arc beam that cut through the air. The sword beam was over five meters long, and was completely imposing. It's speed was fast, and so was it sharp.

"Tiger Dragon Barrage," Xue Long said as he gently waved his sword down. This simple, yet gentle move seemed harmless, but the moment he did so, the phantom images of a great tiger and a golden dragon formed behind him.

These two phantom images seemed like the real creatures, with the same imposing aura the real beasts would have. Both of them then roared and charged forward, clashing against the strike.

Crash!

Both strikes were equal in power, so they ended up canceling each other. The black robed youth was just about to launch another attack, but Xue Long was faster.

Xue Long glared coldly at the youth before quickly slashing his sword side-ways. Just like before, the move was gentle, but deep within the gentleness, there was boundless ferocity!

"Heaven Wrenching Tornado!"

Spiritual power started to condense in front of him once more, turning into currents of wind. They started madly spinning around, and soon enough, a small tornado formed in from of Xue Long. He then waved his sword again, sending the tornado forward. As it moved, the sand in the desert's surface was picked up, increasing it's offensive power.

At this moment, another of the youths in black stepped out and took out a huge shield from his cosmos sack. As soon as he took it out, the area he was standing at sunk down a little because of the overwhelming weight. With great effort, he set the shield down in front of them, blocking the hurricane.

However, they weren't save, as Xue Yan finally began attacking.

"Earth Piercing Stab!"

In the tip of Xue Yan's halberd, spiritual power started to condense in a spiral. He thrusted his halberd forward, stabbing at the shield.

"Clank!"

The sound of metal colliding against metal exploded out as the shield that seemed incredibly heavy was blown away from the force, taking the black robed youth along with it. He tumbled back a few steps, but it was for naught as the incredibly heavy shield ended up falling on top of his left-leg, completely crushing it.

Now, with no line of protection, all of the youths in red gathered their spiritual power and launched forward their strongest skills.

"Tiger Dragon Barrage!"

"Earth Shattering Blow!"

"Soul Crusher!"

"Secret Water Skills: Great Tornado!"

The youths in red did not hold back in the slightest. They knew that in this battle, the loser would die and the winner would live on. As such, they were determined to use everything they had up their sleeves in order to win.

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	39. A Bloody Lesson

**New chapter either Tuesday or W** **ednesday.**

 **Cultivation Realms – Elementary Profound Realm, Nascent Profound Realm, True Profound Realm, Spirit Profound Realm, Earth Profound Realm, Sky Profound Realm, Emperor Profound Realm, Tyrant Profound Realm, Sovereign Profound Realm, Saint Profound Realm and Divine Profound Realm.**

 **World Spiritist Levels – White-Cloak, Gray-Cloak, Blue-Cloak, Purple-Cloak, Gold-Cloak.**

 **Profound System Ranks - Low Ranked Profound System, Medium Ranked Profound System, High Ranked Profound System, Special Ranked Profound System, Legendary Ranked Profound System, Ultimate Ranked Profound System and Heavenly Ranked Profound System.**

* * *

While the battle was happening, Issei was looking at it as a spectator. The more he looked at it, the more he understood that he was absolutely weak compared to other people.

Just the four disciples in red were already at the middle to late stages of the third realm, the True Profound Realm. As for the ones in black, they were only in the initial stages, but were still much more than what Issei's group could handle.

From his view, he figured that anyone below the late stages of the True Profound Realm could pose no threat to him as long as he went all out with his Lightning Incarnation mode. However, if the opponent managed to reach the fourth realm, the Spirit Profound Realm, then it would be a completely different situation.

And, just from looking at that arrogant Core Disciple of the Black Sword School, Hua Yui, he felt tremors run through his body. This youth... wasn't simple in the least!

As for the battlefield, their battle continued, but it was obvious that the fellow cultivators from the Fire Blaze Sect had the upper-hand.

Three of the youths in blacks were already either unconscious or dead, but their group still remained intact. But, they didn't dare to grow careless as their attacks only kept getting more and more vicious.

All cultivators in this world knew that in order to take care of a problem, you had to go all the way to the roots and obliterate them. They knew better than anyone that if they left anyone alive, it could mean trouble for them later. Big trouble.

"Brothers, we must use _that_ ," Suddenly, Xue Long said. "We have to finish this as soon as possible."

" _That_?!" Xue Yan exclaimed as he sent out another strike with his halberd. The other members of the Fire Blaze School were equally surprised.

Xue Long nodded and then back-flipped a few meters back. Seeing that, all of them nodded and each one of them jumped in a different direction. In the end, they were scattered in a seemingly random position, the disciples from the Black Sword School being in the middle.

Before the Black Sword School disciples even had time to figure out what was happening, Xue Long got a sack from his cosmos sack and threw it in the air. The others followed suit.

Surprisingly, within the sack, was some kind of red powder. This powder slowly fell out of the sack as it descended, scattering all around in the air.

Then, Xue Long did a hand sign and exclaimed, "Activate!"

At this moment, all of the powder in the air, not only the one that came from his sack, but also from the three other sack, stopped in mid-air. They then started to slowly twist around, changing their position.

As they did so, they slowly approached the ground. By the time they reached the ground, they had already formed a shape. All of the powder surprisingly formed a four-pointed star.

On each point of the start was a Fire Blaze Sect Disciple and in the middle was the Black Sword School disciples. Around the middle, a type of barrier appeared, created by the powder. It made it so that the Black Sword School disciples in the middle couldn't move.

Seeing the situation, one of the disciples in black asked Hua Yui, "Young Master, this powder is sealing our movement. What should we do?"

However, he was cut half-way thorough his speech by none other than Hua Yui, "Nothing. I want to see what trick they are up to. Stay put."

All of them nodded and followed their Young Master order, awaiting for what was about to happen.

Xue Long, on the other hand, hadn't noticed any of that as he was too focused on his task at hand. Inhaling a big amount of air, he got a talisman from his cosmos sack and knelt down, placing it on his point of the star.

All of the other disciples did the same, and in the end, there were four paper talismans surrounding the Black Sword School disciples.

Following that, Xue Long flashed another hand sign and exclaimed, "Fire Extermination Four Pointed Star Formation, Activate!"

He then placed his left and right hand on top of the talisman and started channeling his spiritual power as the others did the same.

In a low voice, he looked at the Black Sword School disciples, "It's the end."

With a start, the talismans started to glow, and consequently, so did the powder. The more time it passed, the brighter became the glow and, after a while, it was blinding.

At the moment that the glow reached its zenith, flames started to appear. The flames originated from each talisman and slowly spread through the powder like a hungry wolf, not stopping for anything. As soon as the whole formation was lit with fire, a strange scene occurred.

All of the fire that was scattered along the formation started moving and suddenly gathered at the center of the formation, where the Black Sword School disciples were. The flames easily trespassed the barrier set up to keep them from going out, and started burning inside.

Soon, screams of pain and agony exploded out from within the flames. As the time passed, the screams got louder and louder.

When the sound of the scream reached it's peak, the powder started to glow again and a couple of meters above the flames, a phoenix of fire formed.

The flames of the phoenix were erratic, and it was constantly changing shape. Sometimes it was a bird, sometimes a river of endless flames. Nevertheless, it was obvious that this phoenix of fire was powerful.

Xue Long, with a cold look in his eyes, said, "We tried to be peaceful, you didn't hear. We tried to get away, you didn't let us. You brought your own death upon yourself."

His right hand then clenched into a fist as his right arm slashed downwards. As his right arm descended, so did the phoenix as it clashed again the flames.

With that crash, the flames scattered all around, burning the scorching sands of the desert. On that moment, all of the screams inside suddenly stopped.

The meaning was obvious; they had died. Even when the screams stopped, the flames continued. From the looks of it, it would stay like this for a few more minutes.

Xue Long then looked at his fellow disciples. All of them were breathing hard and were clearly extremely tired. After all, this formation was one of the secret weapons of the Fire Blaze School, the Fire Extermination Star.

For them to use it, it was obvious that they would be tired. But, no matter how tired they were, in their eyes, there was still a keen sense of accomplishment.

One more battle won meant one more day lived. With this victory, they managed to dodge death.

Xue Long then nodded at them, and started to walk away. There was no need for words, for they knew what he meant. It was time go back to the sect.

However, before they could walk even a couple of steps, a yawn followed by voice came out from within the burning flames, "Boring."

"What?!" Xue Long's eyes widened as he abruptly turned around, along with all the Fire Blaze Sect disciples.

And, they turned around just in time to witness as all of the flames that were in the area were suddenly dispersed. And, in the middle of them, stood a single black clothed youth, surrounded by burnt remains of corpses. He had a bored and aloof look in his eyes, and he was completely fine. His clothes, hair, skin... nothing had been burned.

This youth was none other than Hua Yui.

"So, this is all all you can do?" Hua Yui yawned once more as he lifted up his right arm. "Weak."

Suddenly, on his right hand, a longsword appeared. The sword was around 165 cm in length, and its blade was completely black. Its hilt was covered in white bandages, some of which had separated from the hilt and were flowing around in the air.

As soon as the sword was taken out, a foreboding feeling appeared in the hearts of all the Fire Blaze Sect Disciples.

Hua Yui then smiled at them. The smile was a seemingly kind one, but in their eyes, it was the mad laughter of a demon, "You know... this type of lowly flames won't work against me..." He then suddenly stopped and asked, "Do you know what my Profound System is?"

Before they could even answer, he said, "It's a medium-ranked one, the Wind Traveler Profound System," He then slowly brought his sword down as he continued, "And, guess what? It makes my ability to learn wind-related martial skills much better. Because of that, I know thousands of them."

He then stopped, seemed to think of something and then continued.

"You know... how about I give you a class?" A wicked smile suddenly appeared on Hua Yui's face. He then pointed at one of the Fire Blaze Sect disciples with his sword. "For our first lesson, I will teach you what happens when your head gets severed."

Suddenly, his blade slashed forward and in the next moment, the head of one of the Fire Blaze Sect Disciple fell to the ground. They were over ten meters apart, but the attack was so strong and fierce that he couldn't even notice it.

In a dark smile, Hua Yui said in happy tone, "The answer is: You die!"

He then looked over at another Fire Blaze School disciple. This disciple, who had looked as his fellow disciple had his head severed, suddenly went crazy. He grabbed his sword and roared he dashed forward at Hua Yui, intending to take his life.

The person in question, Hua Yui, simply smiled as he waved his sword. At this moment, a tornado appeared where that approaching disciple was. Before he could even notice what was happening, Hua Yui clenched his hand into a fist.

At the moment that he did so, The wind all around that disciple condensed into thin blades that then made mincemeat out of his body, cutting it into tiny pieces.

Hua Yui shook his head disapprovingly, "You shouldn't interrupt your teacher when he is teaching. Otherwise, you'll have to face the consequences."

He then smirked at the Xue Brothers, "So, how about you guys? What would you like to learn about?"

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	40. Opening The Tomb

**So, this is chapter 40! Hope you enjoy it and the next chapter is either coming out tomorrow or Saturday~! Also, if you have nothing to do, check out my other story, The Path Of Ascension. It's more DxD based, if you're wondering.**

* * *

Before Xue Long and Xue Yan could even answer, their eyes widened as Hua Yui disappeared from sight. A second later, they heard a voice from behind them.

"Took too long to answer," In the next moment, in their vision, the ground seemed to be closer than ever. They couldn't move their head, as they had no neck to move it. They had been decapitated.

Hua Yui sneered as he looked at the corpses, "To try and go against this Young Master... how foolish," He then swiped his hand in the air, and in the next moment, four cosmos sacks, belonging to the disciples of the Fire Blaze Sect, appeared in his hand.

With a cruel smile, he hanged them by his waist and started walking away, not bothering to get rid of the corpses. On the way, however, he stopped and looked at the Water Devil Alliance.

He winked at them, shot them a smile, and then walked away, heading towards the tomb, as if nothing happened.

His meaning couldn't be any clearer. That wink and smile suggested that this would be their ending if they dared to offend him when in the tomb.

Sitri Sona looked at the corpses, and then at Hua Yui's fleeting figure, and sighed. Turning her head towards the members of the Water Devil Alliance, she said, "If we meet him in the tomb, run."

All of the members nodded, and after that, they continued on their trip. It was as if what had happened before was simply an occasional occurrence to them. Although most of the members of the Water Devil Alliance had yet to take their first life, they had already seen plenty of killing.

The only one slightly bothered by it was Xia Mei, as she kept looking at the corpses every now and then from a distance, a look of pity and even fear in her eyes, especially when she remembered Hua Yui. She was different from most of them since she had always led a sheltered life, and wasn't as used to killing as them.

Issei noticed that, and couldn't help but to smile softly. He grabbed her hand, and while acting completely different from how someone his own age acts, squeezed it and gave her a kind and heart-warming smile as he turned his head to look back at her, "Don't worry. Hua Yui won't be able to do nothing to you."

Xia Mei looked at Issei in surprise and shock, and after a while, a soft smile appeared on her soft and entrancing lips. The warmth that came from Issei's hand had passed onto her body, and calmed her mind, taking away all those fleeting thoughts of fear. She simple felt comfortable and safe around the younger boy.

Her heart also skipped a beat, but such movement went unnoticed by her. She had too much in her mind to care about that.

Seeing that Xia Mei was better now, he gave her a reassuring smile and then proceeded to look to the front. He was the driver of the mount, after all, and was required to look forward.

As he thought of Hua Yui, he couldn't help but to have troubling thoughts. He could clearly feel that Hua Yui's cultivation was certainly profound and not simple at all. He was, in the very least, in the first level of the fourth realm, the Spirit Profound Realm, one realm higher than the True Profound Realm.

He knew that with his level of power, even if he entered the Lightning Incarnation mode and went all out, his chances of defeating him were less than zero. All he could do was to rely on his own speed, and managed to escape from a battle.

He figured that if worse comes to worst, he would be able to escape with Xia Mei, but he also knew that in this situation, the rest of the members of the Water Devil Alliance would be nothing short of doomed. He, who was the strongest of the entire alliance, couldn't do shit against Hua Yui, never mind them.

He then sighed, as he stopped thinking about it. When the time comes, he will figure out what to do. No use thinking about it before.

And, like that, the group continued their trip towards the tomb of the expert. After a while, they finally arrived at the large, towering building that Issei had previously seen in the distance.

In reality, it was more like a mixture between a maze and a temple. It was wide, extremely wide, going on for about a couple of kilometers. The entrance, however, was that of a pagoda temple, and it was as majestic as it could get.

When Issei looked at it, he couldn't help but to ask Sona, "Senior Sister Sona, didn't you say that this tomb was only found recently?"

She nodded her head as she looked at him with her cold, sharp eyes.

Seeing her nod, Issei looked at the huge building again and then back at her with a helpless look, "Well, how come no one ever found this before? This tomb is simply huge."

Sona then shook her head with a smile, "This tomb was originally underground. Recently, however, for some reason, it appeared above-ground."

Issei's eyes widened, "You mean... it just appeared like that?"

Sona nodded, "Strange things happen. This kind of thing isn't unusual at all. After all, the world we live in has many strange things and unknown mysteries."

Issei looked at the building once more, sighed, and in the end nodded. He figured that there are certainly some mysterious things in the world. For example, the pearl within him seemed to be even more incredible than this temple that rose from the ground. He made a mental note not be so surprised anymore.

He then looked around, and saw that there were a couple of dozens of youths waiting in front of the entrance for something, probably for the tomb to open, like Sona had mentioned previously.

Looking at Sona, he was about to ask just how it would open, but at that moment, an old person walked to the entrance of the tomb.

He was covered in a thick black robe, and his face was wizened and full wrinkles. Standing in front of the massive doors, he looked just like an ant facing a great dragon.

The old man then announced in a voice that shook everyone present, "The tomb shall open now!" His voice wasn't loud, but everyone who heard it was overwhelmed. There was a deep power behind those words. Even Issei shook slightly when he heard it.

In the next moment, the old man placed his hand on the door and pushed it in what seemed to be a casual movement. However, that simple, care-free movement, made the doors, that were over three hundred meters tall, snap open, as if they were pushed by humongous force.

The doors opened completely, even to the point that they collided with the walls of the temple.

The old man than turned around and looked at the bunch of youths, "You can go in now," After that, he did a slight jump and in the next moment, he was standing on air. Leisurely, he walked in the air, climbing higher and higher until he reached the clouds.

Through the entire ordeal, Issei had a look of surprise on his face, along with all the other members of the Water Devil Alliance. Only Sona had a calm look on her face, as if she had already been expecting this.

Seeing Issei's amazed look, she explained, "That person should be in the middle-stages of the Sky Profound Realm, meaning that his strength is too deep for us to comprehend. He was probably sent here by the Jiang Dynasty to open the tomb."

"Sky Profound Realm?" Issei questioned lightly as he kept staring at the fleeting figure of the old man. "Such power... I wonder if I'll reach it one day."

But, he then suddenly stopped as he noticed another information that Sona had given him, "Wait... Senior Sister, did you say Jiang Dynasty?"

Sona nodded as she started walking forward. The rest of the members of the Water Devil Alliance followed after her.

"The Jiang Dynasty... aren't they the rulers of the Country Of The Nine Provinces? Why would they send someone here?" asked Issei as he walked along with the group.

Sona simply shrugged her shoulders, "They normally send some of their dynasty in this situation when the ones from the younger generation find a secret place but can't open it. In return, they gain popularity with the nation's denizen, earning their respect."

"I see..." Issei nodded his head slightly, not having anymore questions. Sona's explanation sufficed. He then focused on the task at hand, which was entering the tomb.

Not only the Water Devil Alliance, but also all the other groups were already heading towards the tomb. However, they weren't in a hurry, and walked leisurely. They definitely didn't want to be the first to enter the tomb.

The reason was simple. Tombs normally had a plethora of traps designed to keep intruders away. They preferred to have someone test the waters first, and only then would they make their moves. After all, if they lost their lives, what use would the treasures within the tomb be?

So, after everyone reached the entrance, they stopped and no one dared to walk towards the door. Everyone kept looking at one another, wondering who would go first.

After a couple of minutes like that, a yawn followed by a voice came from within the multitude of people, "Boring..."

Issei's eyes widened as he recognized the owner of the voice. It was none other than Hua Yui!

Hua Yui casually walked from within the crowd, and headed towards the entrance. When he was about to step inside the tomb, he stopped and turned around to face the groups of people. With his cold and lazy eyes, he looked at them one by one, before stopping on a black-haired youth wearing purple clothing.

He pointed at him, "You, come over here."

The youth in question looked to his sides, and seeing the people around him distancing themselves from him, he pointed at himself, "Me?"

Hua Yui sneered, "No, your father!" he then glared darkly at him, "Get over here already."

"Hmm..." The youth had an unwilling face. He had a feeling that if he did so, he wouldn't be able to keep his life for much longer. However, when he looked at all of his friends for support, they immediately looked away, as if they had nothing to do with him.

"Bastards..." He hiddenly cursed, but in the end, walked forward, hoping that his feeling that he would die soon wasn't right. He walked slowly, and after a while, he was directly in front of Hua Yui. He was slightly smaller in height when compared to Hua Yui, so when he looked at him, he was forced to look up slightly.

Hua Yui sighed as he grabbed the youth by the collar. Before the youth could even take note of what was happening, Hua Yui lifted him up in the air. With a cold smile, he threw the youth forward into the temple, "Enjoy your trip~!"

 **Read and Review~!**


	41. The Mysterious Monster

**Next chapter either coming out tomorrow or Sunday.**

 **Also, warning: This chapter will be slightly more cruel than others. If you don't feel like reading it, just skip to the author note at the end. (Though I do suggest reading it, so you can understand the situation better.)**

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"Bang!"

The body of the youth crashed against the ground inside the tomb. He was roughly a couple of meters away from the entrance, so everyone could still see what was happening.

At this moment, everyone was holding their breaths, waiting for what was about to happen. The ones from the same school as the youth were even scared for him, especially his brother that had come along with him.

After a couple of seconds, the youth got up and looked around. His face was of fear as he looked deeper into the tomb, not daring to move.

One second, two seconds, three seconds… a total of fifteen seconds passed before he looked back at the entrance and directly at Hua Yui.

There was intense hatred in his eyes, but he could do nothing about it. In the end, he just said through gritted teeth, "There's nothing here. Can I go back now?"

Hua Yui, in turn, shook his head with a smile, "Not really. How about you walk forward?"

"What?!" exclaimed the youth as he looked at Hua Yui in bewilderment and anger.

"I said to walk forward. Are you deaf?" Hua Yui said slowly as he eyed the youth. His face was getting annoyed, and it was clear that soon enough, his temper would explode.

"But!" The youth tried to reason with Hua Yui, but was interrupted as Hua Yui raised his hand.

"You have two options," Hua Yui said slowly. He then raised his index finger, "Option number 1: You can go inside the tomb," He then raised his middle finger, "Option number 2: You can die by my hands," He then grabbed a sword with that same hand and said, "Which one is it?"

The youth looked at Hua Yui in anger, cursing his entire family in his mind. He had never wanted to kill someone so much in his entire life. In the end, however, he could do nothing about it as Hua Yui was too powerful.

He couldn't help but to glance at his brother, hoping for something, but said person shook his head. His brother cared for him, obviously, but it wasn't to the point of going against Hua Yui. Even when dealing with family members, one most consider their life first and then the others. That's something that most cultivators have to learn.

Seeing that his brother had no intention to help, he could only also curse him in his mind, and make a mental vow to make his brother's life as miserable as possible if he survived.

He then turned around and observed the interior of the tomb. The path that lay in front of him was seemingly normal, just a stone corridor. He couldn't see anything unusual or conspicuous about it.

In the end, taking in a deep breath, he took one step forward.

Everyone looked at him expectant looks, waiting to see whether or no he would activate any traps. Thankfully for him, he didn't.

The youth then took a second step as beads of sweat fell down from his forehead. This was undoubtedly the most scared he had ever felt in his entire life. He could die with a single move.

However, once more, nothing happened.

He then took a third step, then a forth, followed by a fifth, all the way to the twentieth. By this time, there was already quite a distance put up between him and the other cultivators.

The youth, even though he had managed to keep his life so far, didn't feel like celebrating. In fact, he had a foreboding feeling that there was someone or something looking at him from _within_ the tomb. And, no matter what he did, he couldn't shake off this feeling. With each step he took, it only got stronger and stronger.

He then looked back at Hua Yui and said with hope, "I have already walked this far. It's enough, right?"

Hua Yui, however, shook his head and said a single word that set the youth's heart into despair, "More."

He sighed, shot Hua Yui a meaningful glare and finally set his attention back to the tomb. He prepared to take the next step.

Back in the groups of cultivators, Issei's eyes widened as he saw something within the tomb. He immediately looked at Xia Mei and whispered in a voice so low that only she could hear.

"Close your eyes right now and don't open them until I say so, Senior Sister Mei."

The girl's eyes widened as she shot Issei a glance, wanting to ask why, but upon seeing his serious and cold expression, she shut her mouth tight and did as she was told, closing her two, gorgeous eyes.

In the same moment she did so, the youth in the tomb suddenly stopped. That's because he suddenly felt huge amounts of killing intent directed at him from within the tomb, coupled with heavy steps that moved towards him slowly from inside.

His eyes widened as he immediately turned around and started to run desperately, as fast as he could, towards the entrance of the tomb.

The cultivators outside widened their eyes as they were taken by surprise by the youths sudden action, not understanding what was happening. However, the questions they had in their minds were quickly answered when they noticed a figure following the youth.

Its body was humanoid, with the back hunched forward. It had long, black hair that covered it's face, like a ghoul, and its skin was a pale green color. Whether it was female or female was unknown.

At first, it was walking slowly, one step at a time, but the moment that the youth he was chasing started to approach the entrance, it opened it's mouth, that was much larger that a normal human's, and gave off a loud, high-pitched and bloodcurdling scream.

"Aahhhhh!"

As soon as the cultivators heard it, they all covered their ears as they started to bleed from their mouths, ears and nose. That scream had completely messed up their entire blood-flow.

Only a handful of cultivators managed to withstand it, including Hua Yui who had an expectant look on his face, Issei and Xia Mei, who still had her eyes closed.

Issei had previously noticed what was going to happen the moment he saw the monster opening it's mouth, using his Lightning Incarnation mode on his eyes to enhance his vision, so he quickly condensed his spiritual energy around his and Xia Mei's ears, managing to block off the screams.

As for the others cultivators, their eyesight couldn't compare to Issei's, so they had no idea of what was going to happen, and, as such, they had to endure the full strength of the scream. Hua Yui also hadn't noticed, but his cultivation base was much stronger than others, so he wasn't affected.

The youth that was running from the monster was about to step out into the open, but when the monster screamed, he was forced to his knees. He, who was the closest to the monster, almost lost his conscience, and he was bleeding from all the orifices in his face.

With the youth down, the monster started running and managed to reach him. It instantly pounced on him, throwing him at the ground.

At this moment, the youth had already managed to recuperate and when he saw the monster on top of him, he started madly screaming. The cultivators outside noticed it and their eyes widened.

The monster completely ignored the youth's screams and bit down on his shoulder, eating a mouthful of the youth's flesh.

"Argh!"

Screaming in pain, the youth tried to get away from the monster, but it was holding him tightly. It then pulled its head back, letting the outsiders view the huge whole on the youth's shoulder and bit down again, this time at his arm.

"Argh!"

This time, the youth screamed even more, and the cultivators outside had looks of fear in their eyes. They could only watch as the monster bit down once more. They weren't foolish, and although they couldn't sense the monster's cultivation level, it was clear that it was stronger than them. The only one who stood a chance was probably Hua Yui, but he showed no intention of helping.

In fact, he only looked at the scene, a mysterious smile on his face, as if he was watching a show. To him, the screams of the youth was like melody. He even licked his lips once.

The only person who didn't know what was happening was Xia Mei, as she had her eyes closed. She could hear the screams, though.

"Junior Brother Issei, what is happening?!" She whispered to the young boy by her side, wanting to know what was causing the screams of pain.

Issei had a serious and cold look on his face as he watched as the youth was bit down slowly by the humanoid monster. He only looked at Xia Mei briefly and said in a stern and commanding voice, "Don't open your eyes no matter what, Senior Sister."

He clearly knew that such a scene could cause mental trauma on a young and sheltered girl like Xia Mei. That's why he ordered the girl to close her eyes the moment he used his enhanced vision to see the monster approaching.

He wasn't affected, as he had mentally prepared himself for such a scene the moment he saw the monster in the distance, but as a person that cared for his friends, he just couldn't let his precious Senior Sister witness such a bloody scene.

Back to the entrance of the tomb, the youth had already lost both arms and some parts of his torso, but the monster didn't seem to have any intentions of stopping. It bit down again and again, ignoring the youth's screams of pain.

Two minutes later, the screams of the youth ceased. The monster had bit down on his neck, taking out his vocal cords. Strangely enough, the youth was still alive. It was as if the monster was only choosing places that wouldn't damage his life. It was as if it wanted the youth to suffer as most as possible.

By this time, any normal human would have already died, but the youth was a cultivator. As long as he had a heart, lungs and brain, he wouldn't die, since cultivators like him had much more vitality that other humans, and consequently, much more endurance. The monster seemed to be taking advantage of that fact to make him suffer.

At this point, the youth was already wishing to die, wishing that he had previously taken Hua Yui's offer to kill him instead of walking deeper into the tomb. The pain was just so much that he couldn't even withstand it. And, no matter what he tried, he just couldn't get himself to pass out and end this suffering. It was as if there was something keeping him awake, not letting him pass out.

It was also at this moment that the monster moved its head down more than usual and decided to increase the punishment to a new level. It raised its head and fiercely bit down on the youth's crotch.

At this moment, the youth's eyes widened and his face turned white, devoid of blood. If he still had his vocal cords, his scream would have traveled through the entire desert.

All the male cultivators who were watching the scene took a step back and their hands instinctively moved towards their crotch area. As for Hua Yui, his face was even brighter as if the show he was watching had just gotten even better.

Following that, the monster bit down again and proceeded to eat up the youth bit by bit. Five minutes later, there was nothing that remained from the youth.

The monster then lifted up its head and looked at the remaining cultivators as blood dripped from its mouth.

By this time, most cultivators had their eyes closed. Most of them had closed them the moment they noticed what the monster was planning, long before he ate the youth's manhood. That included the youth's brother, who had long since closed his eyes.

Some of them have even barfed, disgusted by the bloody scene.

As for the ones that kept their eyes open for more time, they were mostly mentally scarred. Even the ones that had hurriedly closed still were struck with fear, a fear that would haunt their dreams for the rest of their lives.

There were only a selected few who weren't affected. For example, Hua Yui had an expression of happiness on his face, as if he was looking at a new toy. Issei still had a cold and collected demeanor, since he had managed to put up mental barriers the moment he noticed what was going to happen.

As for Xia Mei, she was mostly clueless as to what was happening, although she had a faint feeling that someone died. In the end, she thankfully followed Issei's instructions, and never dared to open her eyes.

Sona also had her eyes closed, as well as the rest of the Water Devil Alliance. The moment she saw the monster take its first bite on the youth, she was quick to act, and immediately ordered the entire Water Devil Alliance to close their eyes. As such, they were the group that was less affected.

The monster, in turn, with its mouth dripping blood and its hair also tainted in red from the blood of the youth, looked at the group carefully, but didn't move forward. Instead, it only turned its head around and walked back into the tomb.

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 **In summary: The youth is attacked by a monster, dies, and the monster walks back into the tomb.**

 **Read and Review~!**


	42. I would like to enter

**Next chapter coming out either Tuesday or Wednesday.**

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After a couple of minutes, Hua Yui looked back at the group of youths, a wild smirk on his face. He then smiled as he said, "So, who's next?"

When everyone heard that, they couldn't help but to take a step back, expressions of fear on their faces. Each and everyone of them were afraid that they would be picked to have the honor of dying.

Seeing that no one was volunteering, Hua Yui showed a down-cast look, "Come on, I don't bite."

At that moment, everyone felt like saying: "You may not bite, but that motherf*cking monster certainly does." However, no one had the courage to say that.

Seeing that even after he said that, no one dared to volunteer, Hua Yui sighed as he snapped his fingers. In the next moment, from within the crowd, a figure wearing the same clothes as Hua Yui came forward and half-knelt in front of him.

"Young Master Yui," Said person stated respectfully.

Yui nodded as he looked at the youth in front of him with a serious look. It was one of the many servants that his family had provided him. His name was Ming Hao, was seventeen years old, cultivation level of the eighth level of the Nascent Profound Realm and specialized in acquiring information.

"Ming Hao, do me a favor and tell me which of this cultivators in front of me is the fastest," Hua Yui said as he motioned towards the crowd of cultivators.

Without even looking at the cultivators behind him, Ming Hao nodded. "According to my sources, the fastest one here is Ren Luo, a disciple of the Eternal Sky Sect."

The moment that those words left Ming Hao's mouth, a cultivator in the crowd trembled as disbelief appeared on his eyes. He was wearing an azure robe with drawings of clouds, the robes worn by the core disciples of the Eternal Sky Sect. He was obviously Ren Luo.

Hua Yui, obviously, noticed Ren Luo subconsciously shudder as he was paying attention to the crowd, looking exactly for such movements. The moment he saw it, he smirked.

Waving his hands, he said, "Hey, Ren Luo, come forward," He then pointed his finger at Ren himself.

The moment he did so, just like with the late previous youth who died by the hands of the monster, the people around him moved back, making him stand out completely.

Ren Luo looked around as he saw his closest friends sending him looks of pity. He could see the unwillingness to part in their eyes, but they also didn't have the courage to stand forward.

He finally looked at his left side, hoping that at least _her_ hadn't forsaken him, but it was of no use. Standing a considerable distance away from him, wearing the same robes as him, was a young woman.

When she saw Ren Luo look at her, she immediately looked down, pretending not to know him.

When he saw that, his heart broke. That woman was his wife that he had married with two years ago. He had had to beg his family to let him marry her, as her status was lower than his. Even after that, his status is his family was lowered because he brought her in, but he didn't care as all he wanted was to spend time with her.

He had given his everything to her, but in his most needed moment, she gave him the cold shoulder. With a cold gleam on his eyes, he swore that if he lived, he would definitely have his revenge.

He then looked at Hua Yui and sighed.

At the moment, he could do nothing but to curse the fact that he was so fast. If he had known that his speed could lead to this, he would rather have been born a turtle!

Taking in a deep breath, he took a step forward, "Yes? Does the almighty Senior Brother Hua Yui need something from this lowly disciple? I'm so honored," He made an effort to use his ass-licking skills to its apex, hoping that somehow it would save him.

Hua Yui, however, seemed to ignore it as Ren Luo started singing praises like no tomorrow. To him, this was just like the babbling of a mad man about to be sentenced to death.

He simply said, "Come here."

Nodding, Ren Luo moved forward rather mechanically, too afraid of what was about to happen to walk normally.

Seeing him coming close, Hua Yui explained his plan, "So, it's like this. You are to run, and somehow lose that monster in there. Afterward, you are to enter the deeper parts of the tomb and tell me what you find out."

Ren Luo's eyes widened. This guy... this was tantamount of sending him to his death! What if there were more monster like this inside?!

However, he said nothing as he could only nod.

Seeing his confirmation, Hua Yui grabbed a cosmos sack that was by his waist and waved it in front of Ren Luo. "You see this? This will be your reward if you complete this service. There are over thirty Nascent Beads here."

The moment the youth heard that, he had to clench his teeth to not curse. Thirty Nascent Beads? Great, but what the hell am I supposed to do with them while dead? Bury them with me? Were the thoughts going through his head, along with even more curses, but in the end, he forced a smile.

"Young Master Hui is so generous… much respect," He finally said, although it was more than obvious just how forced his words were. In his mind, he was already choosing the people he would haunt once he died, his wife being on the top of his list. Yes, he had already given up on his life. He knew that at this point, his only choice would be to make it out of the tomb alive, and, well, the prospects didn't look that promising.

In the end, he entered the tomb and started to madly run forward under the gazes of the whole crowd of cultivators. They watched his fleeting figure with pity, as if looking at a corpse, all the way until he disappeared into the distance.

Soon later, they heard the signature scream of the grotesque monster, but surprisingly enough, they didn't hear anything coming from the youth.

Following that, silence reigned over. All of the cultivators kept looking at the entrance, waiting to see if they would be able to witness a miracle, but after twenty minutes, their hopes, which were already low to begin with, plummeted downwards.

Some were even preparing to leave, seeing that their trip to the tomb was tantamount to a waste of time, but before they could even take a step forward, they were forced to a halt as they heard a scream coming from the tomb.

It wasn't a scream of agony, no, it was a scream of accomplishment, as if someone had just escaped a certain death. They slowly moved their heads back, and saw, with widened eyes, as the same youth that had entered the labyrinth dozens of minutes ago, walk out alive.

His clothes were in rags and he was bleeding from all of his facial orifices and also had some deep wounds on his body, but his eyes were filled with accomplishment. He quickly ran from within the tomb, despite the protests that came from his body, all the way until the entrance.

When he reached it, he jumped forward, and fell into the sand of the desert. He laid there, motionless, while being eyed by dozens of speechless cultivators.

"He… survived?" A young girl finally said.

The moment they heard the girl's voice, it was as if they were awakened from a dream as they started looking at the youth in amazement. It was also at that moment that a female voice erupted from the audience.

"Luo!" Following that, a young woman, wearing the same clothes as the youth on the ground, ran from withing the crowd, her arms opened eyes, intending to take Ren Luo in her embrace.

However, before she could even approach him, he immediately jumped from the ground, as if all his fatigue was gone, and turned around to glare at her with a cold look on his eyes.

He didn't say anything as he waved his right hand over his cosmos sack, bringing out a piece of paper from within. From the distance, Issei could read the words "Marriage Certificate."

With a cold look on his eyes, he ripped it apart into tiny pieces and then threw them at the girl, who looked at him with a stupefied look on her eyes.

"Luo.. what are..." The young woman stuttered, as if what she was seeing was a nightmare. Did he just rip apart their marriage certificate? No, that couldn't be true.. right?

Without saying anything, he turned around and started walking towards Hua Yui, preparing to report what he had seen. After all, he wanted those thirty Nascent Beads.

However, mid-way, he stopped and without looking back, he said, "We're over, bitch."

After that, he kept walking forward, his medium-lengthened hair tainted in his own blood as he went over to Hua Yui and started describing the interior of the tomb.

The woman in question simply fell to her knees as she watched her now ex-husband completely ignore her existence.

After Ren Luo reported in, Hua Yui showed that he at least was a man of his promise and gave him his deserved thirty Nascent Beads. Afterward, Ren Luo walked back into the group of cultivators that had come with him from the Eternal Cloud Sect. They greeted each other warmly and proceeded to hand him their medicines.

After that, covered in blood and with a cold look on his eyes, Ren Luo sat down on the ground and started to meditate as he absorbed the medicines his peers had given him. The entire time, he didn't so much as glance at his previous wife.

Hua Yui kept quiet as he looked at the scene, a weird smile forming on his face. He then looked back at the group of cultivators and started his speech.

"Fellow cultivators, according to our fellow cultivator Ren Luo, in the inside of the tomb, just after the entrance, there is a large maze. The maze is big and it seems to cover the entire tomb. There are pathways with those monsters and some without them. That's all he could figure before he was forced to come back by a flock of those monsters. Furthermore, the monsters aren't so fast. If you can cover you ears with spiritual power, it's possible to outrun them."

Hearing that far, most of the cultivators started feeling hope. If it was like that, then it was possible for them to make it, right? It was a maze, and if they played their cards right, there might be a way to reach the end. Furthermore, for there to be so many monsters, there must be many treasures inside, right?

In the hearts of many cultivators, the flames of hope were rekindled as they stared greedily at the tomb's entrance, ready to depart at any moment.

They could die, yes, but all cultivators knew that the higher the risk, the higher the reward. If they weren't willing to risk their life, they would never progress in the path of martial arts.

Seeing the expectant and greedy looks of the cultivators, Hua Yui smiled as he motioned for two of his servants to go to the entrance. They then nodded as they walked there, and started guarding the large doors.

Hua Yui then looked at the rest of the people with a wicked smile, "From this moment onwards, this tomb is mine. Whoever wants to go inside will have to pay 1 Nascent Bead."

Following that, silence took over the lands as everyone stared at Hua Yui with widened eyes. With that single sentence, he had crushed the hopes of all cultivators who were looking forward to entering the tomb and reaping the rewards inside.

Suddenly, from the crowd, a large male walked out while holding a spear, "I don't care if you are Hua Yui or whatever. Just what gives you the right to monopolize the tomb?!"

Before he could even say anything else, Hua Yui suddenly disappeared from sight. In the next moment, he felt wind building up behind him.

However, it was too late to react as a Hua Yui punched him in his back. In that split moment, the large man's eyes widened as he felt an immense amount of strength behind that fist.

Following that, he was sent flying in the air, his consciousness fading away. Sadly for him, Hua Yui had no intention to end there as he smiled.

"Wind Annihilation!" Hua Yui bellowed as sword appeared on his hands. He swiped the sword, causing currents of wind to build up, flying up in the sky until it reached the large man. They then proceeded to cut that man into pieces which started to rain down near the crowd of cultivators.

With a savage grin, Hua Yui casually stretched his hand, grabbing a piece of meat from mid-air and looked at the rest of the cultivators, "Any other objections?"

As soon as they heard his words, they took a step back as fear started to appear on their faces as they sealed their mouths, not daring to make even the slightest sound.

Seeing no one answer, he smiled. He then asked, "Good. With that out of the way, is there anyone that would like to enter the tomb?"

Once again, there was complete silence. Although there were many that wanted to enter the tomb, one Nascent Bead was too much… most of them had never even seen one their entire life.

However, that silence was broken as a young boy who looked like a girl wearing an azure robe walked forward from within the crowd. He had a cold and determined look on his eyes as he looked at Hua Yui.

"I would like to enter."

Hearing the boy's words, everyone quickly turned their heads around as fast as lightning to look at the boy. When Sona saw who it was, her eyes widened as she almost covered her mouth. That boy who had just walked out and said such words was none other than Issei!

 **Read And Review~!**

 **Also, before you start to rage at how Issei is to weak and shouldn't enter, I ask you to first read the next chapter that will be coming out next week. Believe me, I know what I'm doing.**


	43. Let's See Who Is More Shameless!

"Oh? Kid, are you sure about this?" Hua Yui sneered as he looked at the kid with interest. Normally, he would never bother with such children. The only reason why he decided to pay attention to the child was because of the look in his eyes. He could see the confidence within them, as if he was sure about what he was about to do.

Issei simply nodded as he waved his hand, throwing two small, circular objects towards Hua Yui. With an interested smile, he swiped his right hand and caught both of them from mid-air, only to look at Issei with a surprised look a second later, "Two?"

In Hua Yui's hand, two Nascent Beads could be seen.

Issei nodded as he pointed at a cloaked figure not too far away from him. "I'll be going with him."

The figure he pointed at was wearing a robe that covered his entire body, not letting even an ounce of skin for the eyes of the many cultivators present. Because of the thickness of the robe, they couldn't discern the person's shape, let alone the gender. However, when one looked at him, they all felt an oppressing feeling, along with boundless deterrence, as if looking at a tyrant.

Hua Yui turned around to look at the figure with interest and was surprised by the aura that said person gave off. With a smile, he turned back to look at Issei, "I see..."

He then stopped, seemed to think of something, and out of the blue, a wicked smile appeared on his face, "Little brother, since you are the first one to volunteer, I have a proposal to you."

"Please do say it, Senior Brother Yui," Issei said with a slight hint of respect. He knew that such decorum was necessary in order to not cause trouble with Hua Yui. As such, no matter how much he was disgusted by the youth, he had no other choice but to act a little.

Issei knew that he was no saint himself, having already killed a not so little amount ever since arriving in the academy, but when compared to Hua Yui, they were on whole different levels. Issei felt nothing when killing, absolute emptiness, as if he was simply breathing.

As for Hua Yui, there was a great difference. He actually _enjoyed_ killing. It was obvious to spectators that Hua Yui took pleasure in seeing others suffering or dying, taking the meaning of schadenfreude to a whole new level.

"Then, how about this?" Hua Yui smiled as he continued, "You will enter the tomb, go to the maze, and if you happen to reach the end of the maze, you won't get anything from it. After that, you'll head back while making a map, come back here and then hand the map to me. Afterward, I will give you five Nascent Beads. How about that?"

The moment the surrounding cultivators all heard that, their eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. This Hua Yui… just how shameless could he be?! To finish the maze, not get any of the treasures, come back with a map and in the end only get five trifling Nascent Beads?!

They all thought that this young boy, no matter how young he was, would definitely refuse, but his next words shook them to the core.

"Is that so? Thank you so much, Senior Brother Yui!" Issei exclaimed with faked enthusiasm, but since his acting skills were top-notch, it was extremely believable.

Hua Yui smiled as he thought that this was simply to easy. He didn't harbor any hopes of the kid actually being able to finish the tomb, but there was still a possibility he could, or else his eyes wouldn't look so certain. As such, he had to make sure to take this opportunity if he could.

He then motioned towards his servants, making them move aside from the entrance so Issei and his cloaked friend could enter the tomb. Afterward, Issei thanked Hua Yui once more and motioned for his cloaked friend to follow him. After that, both of them entered the tomb and the servants walked back to their place.

The audience all looked at the proceedings with widened eyes and a flabbergasted expression, wondering who would be so dumb as to accept such a ridiculous proposal. As of this moment, they didn't even know whether to laugh or cry.

However, there was also one person who had a serious and thoughtful look on her face as she recalled the scene that happened just a few minutes ago. This person was none other than Sitri Sona, the leader of the Water Devil Alliance.

"Issei is a cunning and clever person…." She muttered lightly, confusion evident on her eyes, "Just what is he planning?"

In the end, she sighed and turned around to the place where she thought Xia Mei was.

"Little Sister Mei, do you know what Junior Brother Issei is planning? Also, do you know who that cloaked figure is?" She asked, but suddenly stopped when she noticed that there was no one at the place she was looking at.

With widened eyes, she looked around the entire crowd of cultivators, but couldn't find her anywhere. It was at this moment that she recalled the position where the cloaked figure had been…

Her eyes widening even more, she looked at the entrance of the tomb with complicated emotions and a foreboding feeling, "Junior Brother Issei… you couldn't possibly have..."

…

….

Inside the tomb, two figures walked side by side in a casual pace. On the left stood none other than the otherworldly genius, Issei. By his side was the cloaked figure that had uncovered his face the moment that they entered the tomb and got outside of the eye-rage of the cultivators outside. Or, better yet, uncovered _her_ face.

The face that showed underneath was absolutely perfect, brimming with youthfulness and beauty, as well as a fiery passion. Her hair was black, long and lustrous as it fell by her shoulders, and her eyes were of a beautiful color.

This cloaked figure was none other than Xia Mei!

She looked at Issei as she recalled what had happened just a few minutes ago. Out of the blue, he had handed her this robes and in the next moment, had told her to do whatever he said. After that, he walked forward and volunteered to enter. She was surprised, but in the end, she trusted Issei unconditionally, so she didn't question his decision at the time. Now, however, she finally decided to ask what was on her mind.

"Junior Brother Issei..." She started, getting the young boy's attention. "This cloak… and this tomb… why?"

Issei the smiled as he stopped walking and looked at her, "As for your first question, this cloak is so that no one can see your true appearance. Hua Yui, with his personality, would probably go crazy if he saw you."

Hearing Issei's words, a small blush appeared on Xia Mei's face. Obviously not at the thought of being ravaged by Hua Yui, which she completely ignored, but by Issei's implicit praise on her appearance.

As for how he had gotten the cloak, he didn't mention that it was on one the cosmos sacks of one of the youths he had previously killed. He probably had it so he could mask his appearance when he went to brothels or something...

Issei then simply ignored Xia Mei's blushing face as he continued, "As for the tomb, I obviously have a plan, and you are crucial in it."

Hearing that, Xia Mei's eyes widened, "Me?" She originally thought that Issei was taking her with him just because he felt like it, and not because he had some use for her. At that moment, she also started growing expectant, because more than anything, she wanted to help Issei out.

"Yes," Issei nodded before his face suddenly turned serious, "You see, on our sparing match some time ago, I figured out one of your abilities. You are able to sense negative intent, right?"

When Xia Mei heard that, her eyes widened. In the entire world, she had never told anyone of this ability of hers, not even her sister or her father. In fact, it was probably her most well kept secret, something that no one would ever find out. She didn't not tell Issei because she didn't trust him, which she did, by the way, but because she had forgotten all about it because of the fun she had while with him.

Now that he had mentioned it, she was reminded of her power, and even more so, of the fact that she hadn't told Issei about it. Then… did this mean that Issei had actually figured it out just from that spar a while back? Thinking that far, her eyes widened even more as she looked at Issei with an incredulous look.

Just how cunning was her Junior Brother?!

In the end, however, she nodded, signalizing that he was correct. She also didn't ask him how he found out, as she was afraid that she would be too stupefied of the answer if he were to tell her.

Seeing her confirmation, Issei smiled, "As I thought. Now, it's because of this power that you will be able to help me reach the end of this tomb.

"You see, I could sense that before that monster made its move on that youth from before, it would constantly send him killing intent, as if wanting for him to turn back and to not bother it. It only attacked when the youth got a certain distance to it, as if it had gotten enraged by that fact.

"As such, I came to the conclusion that the monsters will only attack if we are a certain distance from them. If what the youth from before, the one who discovered the maze, Ren Luo I think, said was correct, then this would mean that there are paths with monsters and some without. By logic, the ones without would lead you to the treasure..."

When he reached that part, he stopped, and waited for Xia Mei to continued as he had noticed the sudden expression enlightening that ran across her beautiful face at that moment.

And, just as he predicted, she continued, "Then, what you are planning is for us to walk through the maze, and if I sense killing intent coming from one of the paths, we choose the one without?"

Issei nodded with satisfaction, "Exactly."

As of this moment, Xia Mei started looking at Issei in a new light. From the time that Hua Yui had said what Ren Luo had seen on the labyrinth to the moment that Issei walked forward to volunteer, less than thirty seconds had passed. Her Junior Brother had actually devised such a plan in a matter of seconds?

As she gazed at Issei, she thought that the more time she spent with him, the more amazed she became. She couldn't help but to wonder just where the hell had such a genius come from…

Issei, on the other hand, as if ignoring Xia Mei's gaze directed at him, continued, "Either way, there's also the possibility of my theory being wrong. If that's the case, I have confidence that with my speed, I'll be able to bring the two of us back without harm."

Xia Mei nodded weakly, still dazed. However, she suddenly remembered something, and couldn't help but to ask, "Junior Brother Issei, can you tell me why you accepted Hua Yui's proposal?"

As of right now, this was the only thing that she couldn't understand. She didn't see how that mad proposal could actually benefit Issei in the end…

However, Issei didn't answer as he mysteriously smiled, "You'll find out soon enough."

In his mind, however, he thought, _Hua Yui, you just wait for me. You dared to try to con me into accepting your proposal?! No one can con me, Issei! Let's just wait and see who is more shameless between the two of us! I'll show you what happens when you try to mess with me!_

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	44. Preparing Gifts

"Not this way."

"This way."

"Definitely not there, Junior Brother Issei."

"This one."

After entering the labyrinth, what followed were hours and hours of walking, Xia Mei speaking words at every second, guiding their way.

Just as Issei thought, it was really useful to have Xia Mei with him. The instant she sensed just the slightest bit of killing intent, they would move to a different direction and walk on it until she found killing intent again, taking another path.

He knew that it would also be possible to send his lightning underground and have it report back to him, informing him of whether or not there were monsters in the vicinity, but for that, he would have to spend way too much of his spiritual power, and he wasn't really eager to do that.

As for Xia Mei's ability, it was cost-free. It came naturally to her, so she wasn't tired in the least. Just like that, they had already spent over three hours walking around in the humongous labyrinth, changing paths in not-so-regular intervals.

As they were walking, a crossroad appeared in front of them, with a huge wall that reached the ceiling separating them. Issei looked at Xia Mei and nodded as he motioned towards the one on the left, telling her to get close to it.

She nodded as she proceeded carefully and at the moment she was about to reach the crossroad's entrance of the left area, she immediately jumped back, as if frightened. Following that, she immediately placed her hand in the wall near her for support, panting hard and taking deep breaths.

Issei was startled and rushed towards her, asking, "Senior Sister Mei! What happened?"

Xia Mei then looked at the approaching Issei while panting, her heavenly face pale and her eyes widened. She then took in deep breaths, trying to stabilize her breathing, before she finally said in a low voice, "We definitely can't go there."

Her voice was firm and strict, as if she was saying an order. From the moment that they had met, this was the first time that she had used such a tone with Issei. The young genius clearly understood the meaning of that; what was beyond that path was dangerous. Much, much more dangerous than the ones before.

He then nodded heavily, assuring her that he would not enter. He then saw that she was still affected by whatever negative intent that she had felt, and couldn't bear to see her like this. He was a person that cared dearly for his friends, and it broke his heart to see his precious Senior Sister Mei like that.

"Senior Sister Mei," He said, making her raise her head, that was lowered in order to breath better, to look up at him. Issei then pointed at wall she was taking support in and said as he handed her a cosmos sack, "Rest there a little before we proceed."

Xia Mei looked at him deeply for a while, but after a while nodded weakly as she moved to the spot that he had pointed at. She then laid on the ground, completely defenseless, as she tried to ward off the negative feelings within her.

During that process, she also looked inside the cosmos sack that Issei had handed her, and when she looked inside, her head immediately bolted towards him like lightning, "Junior Brother Issei…. This..."

Issei saw what she was planning to say and quickly interrupted her, "Don't worry about it. Just refine it quickly, as it will help you get better." His tone was strong and strict; it left no room for complaints.

She looked at Issei for a long while, a complicated and deep look in her eyes, before she sighed and then nodded, deciding to just accept it. She then, while slightly trembling, brought her hand close to the cosmos sack and took out a circular bead from within. That bead was nothing else other than a Nascent Bead!

She, as a daughter of a merchant, knew just how expensive this type of thing was. Even she, who was quite healthy and constantly spoiled by her father, hadn't seen a great amount of Nascent Beads in her entire life. In fact, if it wasn't for the, well, special sister of hers, this would probably have been the first time that she would have seen such a treasure.

Her father was rich, yes, but only in commoner terms. There were many, many cultivators richer than him and with more influence than him in the Blue Wind Country, where she had come from, alone. And, that was considering the fact that out of all of the seven nations in the Sky Profound Alliance, which contained all of the nations in the Profound Sky Continent with the exception of the Country Of The Nine Provinces, the Blue Wind Nation was the weakest.

(I know I mentioned before that there were eleven nations, but just ignore that. I'm changing it to seven from now on. So, in summary, in the Profound Sky Continent, there are eight nations. Seven of them are in an alliance, the Profound Sky Alliance, which is lead by the strongest nation, the Divine Phoenix Nation/Empire/Country ((From now on, I'll be constantly switching between Nation, Empire and Country, but just know that they mean the same thing in this story. Like, Blue Wind Empire = Blue Wind Nation = Blue Wind Country. I'll be using all three types throughout the story)). As for the Country Of The Nine Provinces, it didn't enter the alliance.)

As such, for her, a young girl, even if it was for the daughter he spoiled on so much, he wouldn't waste his accumulated wealth to get her a Nascent Bead. He could buy it, yes, but he decided that he would save that money to buy this cultivation resource for her when she truly needed it to make a breakthrough in her cultivation.

Like mentioned before, it was only because of her sister that she was able to even see such cultivation resources. Her sister's talent was huge, and she had already gotten a private tutor from a huge sect in the Blue Wind Empire. Because of that, her sister had no small supplies of Nascent Beads, and could even enjoy True Beads and Earth Beads, although the later was in much smaller quantities.

Anyway, now that she could actually refine such a precious treasure for the first time in her entire life, saying that she was excited would be an understatement. She couldn't help but to glance at Issei while she had the bead in her hands, looking at him gratitude, thankfulness and even a bit of adoration.

In the end, she smiled lightly, a smile that had come from the bottom of her soul, as she placed the bead in her mouth and started to slowly refine it, closing her eyes. As she felt the spiritual power from within the bead fusing with her own, all of the negative feelings that she had gotten had faded away, as if they were never there to begin with.

Sadly, she could only absorb a small amount of the bead's spiritual power just like most cultivators, Issei included, as it was virtually impossible to assimilate all of the spiritual power of a cultivation resource, no matter which one, into their own. In fact, each person could absorb spiritual powers from cultivation resources in different amounts.

Xia Mei could absorb over fifty percent, while Issei could absorb sixty six. This could already be considered impossibly good, as people who could absorb over forty percent were already considered blessed. As for people who could absorb more than seventy percent, they were nonexistent. It was literally impossible to absorb more than that, as it was a law of nature and the Heavens itself that such a huge amount of spiritual power couldn't be taken from cultivation resources and assimilated into one's own cultivation base. The amount that wasn't absorbed would simply fade away into nothingness.

Anyways, now that Xia Mei had finally calmed down and her mind was once more stable, she couldn't help but to look at Issei with even more gratitude. In order for her to get rid of her negative feelings, he even went as far as to give her such a precious treasure…

Now, it would be impossible to know what would happen if Xia Mei were to find out that cultivation resources had no such properties as getting rid of a person's negative feelings. Issei only thought that it was like that, so he had offered her one. In reality, all that cultivation resources could do was to increase the cultivation base. They had no other side effects.

If only Xia Mei knew that what had stabilized her mind, and gotten rid of her harmful feelings was not the Nascent Bead, but instead, the feelings that she had felt for Issei the moment he had given her the little bead had overwritten the bad feelings that were tormenting her…

Anyhow, Issei noticed that Xia Mei was finally feeling better, so he simply smiled and said, "So, can we get going now?"

Xia Mei smiled as they started walking in the path on the right, far away from the one on the left, where she had gotten the negative feelings from.

While they were walking, Issei couldn't help but to smirk in his mind as he recalled what he had just done. While Xia Mei was refining the bead, with her eyes closed, he had used that opportunity to send his lightning underground into the path on the left to figure out just what was there that rendered his senior sister to such a pitiful state.

When his lightning finally reached it, he finally understood why Xia Mei had behaved like that. Within that path, he could sense hundreds and hundreds of those monsters with his lightning. Not only that, he also felt some stronger presences, probably some stronger kinds of monsters were placed there within the crowd of weaker ones...

However, the best part still had yet to come. After channeling lightning in the ground, he found out a rather interesting mechanism that was at the entrance of that path. The moment someone walked within it, a spirit formation would instantly form. A purple colored spirit formation.

Purple-colored spirit formation were made by Purple-cloak world spiritist, an existence that was considered and absolute legend in the entire Profound Sky Continent. At most, there would only be two of three of them in existence residing within the Profound Sky Continent, most likely residing in the Divine Phoenix Nation.

Purple-colored spirit formations were practically unbreakable for those with cultivations below the middle stages of the Emperor Profound Realm. An early stage cultivator at the Emperor Profound Realm wouldn't be able to even dream of breaking it.

As for how he was able to sense that formation, it was because Shinso had taught him some stuff about Spirit Formations. Although he didn't have any spirit power and couldn't use them, he could still recognize one. Now, he was only able to see that the spirit formation beneath the entrance of the left path was purple colored because, well, it was giving off a purple aura around it.. Spirit formations had colors that showed their rank.

When Issei had noticed that Purple-colored Spirit Formation that would trap anyone that walked inside, coupled with the hundreds of monsters within that path, he couldn't help but to devilishly smile as he had immediately gotten a scroll from his cosmos, and with his eidetic memory, wrote the complete map of the labyrinth, with a line going over the path he had taken with Xia Mei.

The only difference was that at the very end, when he started drawing the part they were at, instead of placing the line that indicated the correct path on the right path, he placed it on the left one. After that, he placed it back on his cosmos sack and started to wait for Xia Mei to finish refining.

Issei didn't even need to think hard to figure out why this was the first time that he had encountered such a dangerous pathway. Obviously, they were nearing the end of the maze, and this was probably the last and most difficult challenge that the expert who owned this tomb had placed. Sadly for this deceased expert, his final and most challenging trial was ignored...

Anyways, now that Issei was walking by Xia Mei's side as they neared the end of the maze, he couldn't help but to think with a cruel smile, _Hua Yui, oh Hua Yui. I have got such a beautiful gift waiting for you..._

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	45. The Treasure Within The Tomb

**Chapter 45 - The Treasure Within The Tomb**

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After a couple more minutes of walking since choosing the right side of the crossroad, Issei and Xia Mei finally arrived in front of a large and imposing door.

The door was big, that was fact. It was also white, as if made from jade, but had a purple luster around it. Issei quickly recognized it to be a purple-colored spirit formation. On the door, there were various archaic-looking marks of ancient beasts and, strangely enough, heart-shaped drawing.

Issei then looked at Xia Mei who was by his side, and found her looking at him. He then nodded, to which she also nodded. He then smiled as he placed his hand on the door and pushed it lightly.

That slightly push, however, caused it to slowly open, not making a single sound. After a couple of seconds, the door was fully opened, letting them gaze at what laid beyond it.

The room inside was vast, with a high-ceiling that seemed to be of the same height as the entire tomb. Aside from being big, the room also had another characteristic; It was practically empty.

The only thing in the room was an altar that was raised on the center of the room, and a white jade staircase leading to it. Because of the distance, even with his lightning incarnation eyes, he was still unable to figure out what was at the top.

At this moment, he turned around to face Xia Mei, "Wait here."

Although Xia Mei hadn't detected anything yet, he thought that it would be better for him to go alone. That way, he felt it would be safer for both of them.

She nodded, already expecting that as she stayed put by the door, waiting for Issei to enter the room and claim whatever treasure was inside.

After that, Issei walked inside, and in a speed that was neither fast or slow, he made his way towards the altar. Upon reaching the staircase, he started to slowly climb it, all the way until the end.

Upon reaching its end, Issei saw that on the top, there was a flat surface with a small pillar raised in its center. On the top of the pillar, there seemed to be some kind of scroll.

Issei's eyes widened, "Could this be… a martial skill? Or even a cultivation skill?" He immediately questioned himself in his mind as he hurriedly walked towards the scroll.

After that, he quickly picked it up and opened it up with anticipation, wanting to see just what was awaiting him. This dungeon was clearly hard, so obviously, the rewards should be equally amazing.

However, after reading the scroll for a couple of minutes, Issei's face darkened considerably. After a bit more time, he was already scowling. By the end, he was one step away from screaming in rage.

"You must be kidding me…" Issei cursed under his breath as he had to muster all of his mental strength to not tore the scroll to pieces there and then. "This must be a joke..."

He then took in deep breaths, but no matter how much time passed, his anger didn't lessen in the least. "Are you seriously telling me that I spent TWO Nascent Beads and over six hours to get THIS?!" He finally bellowed in rage.

Issei could be considered a miser. Since he had a huge need for cultivation resources, it pained his heart to part with them. The only time that it didn't matter was when he gave it to Xia Mei, since he cared deeply for her.

But, he just couldn't accept the fact that he actually spend two of his precious Nascent Beads just to get this freaking piece of utter shit!

He, who needed over forty Nascent Beads to get to the seventh level of the Nascent Profound Realm, couldn't believe that he had actually spent his already limited resource of Nascent Beads to get such a useless martial skill.

Xia Mei had been startled when she heard Issei's scream of rage, so she quickly rushed over to his side, and when she saw the scroll in his hands and how he was looking at it with with madness, she couldn't help but to ask.

"Junior Brother Issei? What's wrong?" She asked worriedly as she looked at his enraged expression. She had never seen Issei like this before.

"What's wrong?! This shit is wrong!" Issei felt like saying, but seeing that his precious Senior Sister Mei was nearby, he forcefully calmed himself by taking deep breaths.

After a while, he finally raised up the scroll in his hands and said with restrained anger, "Senior Sister Mei, this is the legacy left behind by the owner of this tomb."

"Oh?" Xia Mei opened her mouth in curiosity, but didn't say anything, letting Issei continue.

Just as expected, Issei carried on with his explanation, "Furthermore, this martial skill is useless."

"What?!" Xia Mei exclaimed in shock as she looked at Issei in bewilderment. "Useless?"

She couldn't believe it. This tomb was obviously set up by an expert… how could the only treasure within actually be useless? Could it be that she had heard it wrong?

Issei then continued, "Senior Sister Mei, this scroll contains the cultivation skill and martial skill called the Pure Heart Sutra."

Aside from cultivation skills and martial skill, there were also some that contained both cultivation techniques and attack techniques within them. This type of cultivation and martial skill was extremely rare, and they were something that couldn't be bought with money.

"Pure Heart Sutra?" Xia Mei repeated the name, "I have never heard of it."

Issei then nodded as he started telling Xia Mei what he had read inside the scroll, "The Pure Heart Sutra is divided into nine volumes, and each one has its own set of cultivation skills and martial skills. However, to learn one volume, one must first know the previous volume. For example, in order to learn the skills in the eighth volume, one must have already mastered all the volumes from the first to the seventh.

"Furthermore, the Pure Heart Sutra has limitations. It can only be practiced by people with pure hearts, people that don't harbor many impure thoughts. Also, only women can cultivate the volumes from the third to the ninth. Males can only learn the first two volumes.

"It seems like the Pure Heart Sutra was created by the expert who left this tomb behind, and she was also female. According to the introduction, this cultivation and martial skill is the most powerful skill she had ever created, and its one of the best skills in existence in the entire Sky Profound Continent. The woman who created it didn't disclose the rank, she only stated that it was a rank 10 cultivation and martial skill in the very least."

When Issei finished his explanation, Xia Mei's eyes were sparkling as an idea formed in her head. Probably, the reason why Issei was so made was because he was a male and couldn't cultivate it, but Xia Mei was a female in all and every sense, a perfect one at that. As for the pure heart, she wasn't sure, but maybe she met the requirements. As such, she couldn't help but to develop feelings of wanting it in her heart.

However, she didn't dare to say it, as it belonged to her Junior Brother. Although he had obviously deemed it useless, it could still sell for an unimaginably high-price. As such, she wasn't going to ask for it.

Issei sighed as he saw the look in Xia Mei's eyes. He then said, "Senior Sister Mei, believe me, if I could, I would definitely gift the Pure Heart Sutra to you, but I can't."

"Huh?" Xia Mei opened her mouth in surprise.

"You see, the Pure Heart Sutra in my hands is incomplete. It only has the volumes from the third to the ninth. The first two volumes are nowhere to be seen."

When Xia Mei heart that words, all her expectations vanished. Issei had clearly stated beforehand that in order to practice it, one must start from the very first volume. It was impossible to start from the third.

"I see..." She finally said, slightly downcast.

"Either way, we should head back now," Issei then said as he started walking away, heading back to the entrance. At this moment, Xia Mei noticed that Issei hadn't placed the scroll back on the altar.

"Junior Brother Issei?" She asked in surprise as she followed after him, "Didn't you make a deal with that Hua Yui to leave all the treasures here?"

Issei then smiled lightly as he shook his head, "Although this is of no use to me, who knows if Hua Yui by chance posses the first two volumes? As such, I'm not willing to leave it behind."

"But..." She began, seemingly unsure of what to say next, "Judging by his personality, he is sure to look inside our cosmos sacks..."

Issei simply shook his head lightly and smirked at her, "Trust me on this, Senior Sister Mei."

Xia Mei looked at him, a little doubtful, but in the end, she decided to just trust her Junior Brother. If it was her Junior Brother, she believed that nothing was impossible for him.

After that, Issei pretended to place the Pure Heart Sutra in his cosmos sack, while in reality, he placed it on the inner world of the Sky Poison Pearl. He also got all of his precious medicines and Nascent Beads from the cosmos sack by his waist and stored them inside the Sky Poison Pearl.

Hua Yui was a shameless and unpredictable bastard. There was always a chance that he would try to steal his stuff…

He then remembered something as quickly turned around to look at Xia Mei, "Senior Sister Mei, do you happen to have something precious within your cosmos sack? If you do, please hand them over to me so I can hold on to them while Hua Yui inspects our belongings. I'll return them to you afterward."

The heavenly beauty looked at Issei in confusion, wondering what difference it would make to store it on his cosmos sack, but in the end, she took out her sword as well some of her favorite clothes and handed them to Issei.

Before coming to the tomb, while still at the Heavenly Might School, she had been in a hurry to depart, so she had brought her entire wardrobe with her by mistake. As such, she couldn't help but to hand over Issei the clothes that she liked the most in order to ensure that they wouldn't be stolen.

Issei then nodded as he grabbed the items that she had given him and stored them within the Sky Poison Pearl. Afterward, when they were few minutes away from the entrance, he handed Xia Mei the thick robes that she had worn when they entered first entered the tomb.

Now, with all of his and hers specials belongings stored inside the Sky Poison Peal, Xia Mei's appearance hidden deep within the robes and the map that he had drawn before in his hands, the small group of two made their way towards the entrance of the tomb.

At the very least, this trip hadn't been useless, at least in Issei's view. That was because he knew that soon enough, Hua Yui would be having a special meeting inside the tomb with some really interesting fellows.

It was just a pity that he wouldn't be there to watch it, though...

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	46. Digging Your Own Grave

**Chapter 46 - Digging Your Own Grave.**

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After a while, the entrance of the tomb entered their sights. With Xia Mei covered, he had nothing to worry, so he casually walked forward while looking into the crowd of cultivators, who had yet to notice that he was walking out.

However, one of the cultivators there unconsciously glanced at the direction of the tomb, and at that time, he caught size of Issei and his mysterious, cloaked, companion.

With widened eyes as he pointed towards the tomb, his index figure trembling and an expression of surprise all over his face, "T-they… came b-back!"

His shout completely silenced the entire crowd of cultivators, who had been casually chatting just a moment ago. Like lightning, all their heads moved to the cultivator who still had his hand extended and quickly after, to the entrance of the tomb.

And, just like the cultivator said, walking out from the entrance of the tomb was none other than Issei followed by his cloaked companion!

As soon as they saw that, a surge of emotion washed over the crowd. Some of them were excited that they had come back alive, specially the Water Devil Alliance, while some of them were surprised, thinking that they had died, since they had spent over six hours in there.

However, there were some cultivators with expressions that stood out in the crowd. Some of them had sore expressions as they secretly handed cosmos sack to other cultivators, who looked extremely pleased and happy. These cultivators had previously bet on whether or not Issei would come back.

Sona was happy, glad that the two newest members of the Water Devil Alliance had made it out alive. She had obviously figured it out that the cloaked figure was none other than Xia Mei when she noticed her disappearance. She was also thinking of how she should punish Issei for being so rash, but nothing came to mind, as Issei was stronger than her and she most likely would be unable to punish him.

Hua Yui also had a surprised yet excited expression on his face as he took the initiative to greet the two cultivators. Walking forward, he smiled, "Junior Brother! I see that you have come back!"

His expression was pleasing to the eye, looking extremely amiable, and he looked like he was truly happy to see Issei back. In the end, however, everyone knew what kind of monster Hua Yui really was, so they were aware that what he was simply acting at this moment.

Issei pretended not to mind Hua Yui's blatantly faked expression as he smiled back, "Yes I am, Senior Brother Yui. I'm sorry that I made you wait."

"No worry, no worry," Hua Yui shook his head while smiling kindly at Issei. At this moment, he took notice of the map that Issei held in his right hand, and his eyes shined brightly, "Junior Brother, by any chance, is that..."

Issei then nodded, "Exactly, Senior Brother. This is the map that I made of the tomb, just as promised."

Hua Yui's eyes shined even brightly and he couldn't help but to ask, "Junior Brother… by chance.. did you manage to reach the end of the tomb?"

Issei then nodded as he simply handed Hua Yui the map and said, "The mark with an X is the treasure room. Just follow the line I drew on it, and you'll be able to arrive there."

"I see..." Hua Yui said as he glanced at the map, his eyes shining with disbelief; Was this map truly real? "Junior Brother, is there some proof that you have truly reached the end of the tomb?"

Hua Yui was unconvinced. Although he felt an aura of a tyrant coming from Issei's companion, he wasn't able to determine the person's cultivation level. As such, he wasn't really going to believe that Issei managed to go through the labyrinth, which would have been an extremely difficult trial, just like that.

Issei's expression then turned slightly downcast as he said, "I have no proof as I made that deal with Senior Brother and couldn't get the treasures."

Hua Yui's eyes then sparkled. That's right, that deal!

He then eyed Issei, and couldn't help but to think that if, by any chance, Issei had managed to truly arrive at the end of the dungeon, it was improbable that he wouldn't take anything. As such, he couldn't help but to take make sure of some things.

"Junior Brother.. would you mind if I take a look at your cosmos sack?"

"Huh?" Issei tilted his head to the side slightly as he got the cosmos sack from his waist onto his hands. Xia Mei also saw that, and, without a single word, she handed her cosmos sack to Issei.

Issei then handed both of them to Hua Yui as he smiled, "If Senior Brother wants to, then sure."

Hua Yui then nodded as he looked inside and truly did not find anything out of place. Aside from some clothing, there wasn't anything too special.

He then handed both cosmos sack without a single world, and looked back at his bodyguards, thinking about what he should do. There was a chance that Issei had really managed to reach the end, and this map was real, but there was also the possibility that he could be lying… what to do?

As if on cue, Issei thought of something and said, "If Senior Brother wants to, I can go inside the tomb with you to prove you that this map is correct."

Hua Yui's eyes widened when he heard Issei's suggestion. This was simply perfect! Also, this meant that if the kid was lying, then he could take his revenge immediately.

Smiling amicably, he said, "Really? Thank you so much, Junior Brother."

Issei then nodded with an equally friendly expression as he said, "So, should we get going now?"

Hua Yui nodded as he called his servant over and started walking into the tomb under the eyes of all cultivators. Sona's eyes sparkled with disbelief as she looked at Issei.

"This kid.. just what is he planning?" She couldn't help but to say in a low voice as she knew how Issei's true personality truly was. He would only do things if he could profit from it, otherwise he wouldn't bother with them. Just how could what he was doing bring him profit?!

Back to the entrance of the tomb, just as Hua Yui was about to walk inside, Issei suddenly asked, "Senior Brother… forgive this little one's greediness, but could you hand me the promised three Nascent Beads?"

Without so much of a word, Hua Yui nodded as he produced three circular beads from his cosmos sack and handed them to Issei. Issei, on the other hand, walked back and stood in front of Xia Mei.

Grabbing her hands, he pried them open and placed the three circular beads within them. He then said in a low voice so only she could hear, "Senior Sister Mei, immediately after I enter, tell Senior Sister Sona and the rest of the Water Devil Alliance to head back to the inn and wait for me there."

Without even giving her the time to answer, he immediately turned around and walked back into the tomb, following Hua Yui and his two servant inside.

Immediately after they left, Xia Mei quickly went over to where the members of the Water Devil Alliance were standing at and did what Issei told her to do.

When Sona heard that it was an instruction of Issei, she immediately ordered for them to go back. Although she hadn't known the kid for long, she was clear on how shrewd, cunning and calculating he was. If he asked for them to do this, it wouldn't be without reason.

Five minutes later, the entire Water Devil Alliance had already walked away from the tomb, using their mounts, and were already heading towards the Stone Dagger City.

Two hours then passed in the blink of an eye. In the tomb, Issei, along with Hua Yui and his two servants, were already at that crossroad that determined life and death.

Before, Issei had been with Xia Mei, so he walked slowly, taking over three hours to complete the tomb, but now, since he was with Hua Yui and his servants who had high cultivation level, they manged to reach that crossroad in two trifling hours.

A deranged smile had long since appeared on Hua Yui's face as he looked at the map with greed. When he saw that all the paths that the map said to take were indeed safe, he determined that Issei had really managed to find the treasure room.

As such, when he thought of the endless riches he would be able to gain, he couldn't help but to madly smile. Looking down at the map, he noticed that if he took the left path, he would arrive in the treasure room soon.

Looking back at Issei, he smiled, "Junior Brother, for this treasure room, do you mind to waiting here?"

Hua Yui didn't want Issei to go stealing HIS stuff when they enter the treasure room. Although it was clear that Issei hadn't taken anything with him when he went inside the first time, what was the guarantee that he would be able to contain himself again?

Issei then nodded faintly as he smiled, "I don't see any problems, Senior Brother."

In fact, this actually worked better for him as he was already planning on giving some excuse to let them walk into their trap alone. Now, he was glad that Hua Yui had been so kind as to spare him the trouble, taking the initiative to dig his own grave.

Hua Yui then nodded as he looked at his two servants, and along with them, entered the left path. Not even a second had passed since they entered as a transparent purple wall was suddenly erected in midair right at the entrance of of the left path, blocking their way out and trapping them inside.

When the three of them noticed the wall, their eyes widened as they looked back at Issei with incredulous looks. Hua Yui immediately moved back and tried to crush the wall, but nothing happened. He called his two servants over, but even after launching attacks non-sop for a long while, there was not even a single crack in the wall.

Hua Yui then looked at Issei, who was casually looking at them trying to destroy the wall, standing on the other side with an amused look. His blood started to boil as he pieced everything together. Looking at Issei with hatred, he roared, "What is the meaning of this?!"

Issei then smiled slightly as he casually sat on the ground and extended his legs forward, slightly placing one of them over the other. He casually let his hands fall on laps, taking a position of comfort as he allowed his back to rest on the wall behind him. He looked like he was about to relax while watching a show.

He then smiled with amusement as he slightly raised his right hand and pointed forward with his index finger, "Why don't you try asking them?"

Hua Yui's eyes then widened as he slowly and mechanically turned his head around, only to see hundreds upon hundreds of monster, madly running towards him. All of them were exactly like the same one that appeared at the entrance. Also, mixed in the group, there were also some of them that were over four meters tall, and each step they took shook the entire tomb.

This taller monsters weren't skinny like the smaller ones, and in fact, looked extremely muscular. Their hair also covered their faces, and they all held strange and big-looking weapons on their hands. There were about twenty of those.

On the back, there was even one that stood at six meters tall, almost reaching the ceiling. This one was wearing a black robe, its hair hair was white and its shiny red eyes glowed from behind the hair. In his hands, there was a huge white sword that was covered in bloodstains.

Terror immediately appeared on Hua Yui's face as he started to madly scream, his servants following suit.

Issei, however, casually sat there, an amused look in his eyes as he said, "Well, turns out that I'll be there to see it in the end. I'm just glad that spirit formations are transparent."

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	47. Departure

**There will be a time-skip later on in this chapter. I figured that the Heavenly Might School Arc was extremely boring when compared to my future plans, so I decided to hurry it slightly so I could get to the good stuff. I'll probably end it in 10 or 20 chaps.**

 **Also, just an announcement. The next chapter is only coming out next Friday, because I'll be having my exams next week (Yes, I know. Again) and I need time to study. So, well, see you guys next Friday.**

 **By the way, this chapter is bigger by 1.4k words than others in order to make up for the chapter that I didn't post yesterday.**

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 **Chapter 47 - Departure**

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Issei watched with an amused smile as little by little, Hua Yui and his servants were massacred by the monsters. Their limbs were ripped apart, blood splattering all over the place with every wound. The monsters weren't reserved as some of them didn't even bother ripping of the limb before eating; they ate it while still connected to the body.

During the entire process, all three of them screamed in pain. They begged do die over and over again, but the monsters paid no heed to their words as they continuously devoured them. By the time everything was over, all that was left was a few scraps of their clothes on the ground, along with bloodstains all over the place.

It was as if the room was a canvas and an artist decided to meticulously paint it red. There wasn't even a single little spot that wasn't dirtied by blood.

Shortly after their "guests" "took their leave", the monsters went back, seemingly uninterested at anything else. Issei, however, didn't go away as he sat there patiently, waiting for something. His eyes were shining, a mysterious smile on his lips.

A couple of minutes later, the purple-colored spirit formation disappeared, making it possible to enter the left path once more. Once that happened, Issei finally nodded his head in satisfaction as he stood up and walked forward until he was one step away from stepping inside the path.

Looking inside, he smiled, "At least this monsters decided to leave me a parting gift," he then waved his arm, and in the next moment, two brown-looking pouches that were on the ground flew over to his hands.

Those were Hua Yui and one of his servant's cosmos sack. As Issei looked at the two cosmos sacks that laid in his hands, he couldn't help but to feel regret.

"It's a pity that one of the monster had to eat one of the servant's cosmos sack... I bet there was at least a couple Nascent Beads in it..." in the very end, Issei was still a miser. No matter if it was a Nascent Bead, a True Bead or a spirit grass; he wanted it all.

At the very least, however, he was still happy that he had gotten at least Hua Yui's cosmos sack. There was bound to be some really interesting stuff within, so Issei couldn't help but to be excited.

He couldn't help but to say as he looked at the bloodied room as he said in a seemingly innocent tone, "Hua Yui, I'll be sure to put your treasures to good use. Please, be sure to suffer in hell."

After mockingly thanking the deceased Hua Yui, he immediately sent his spiritual power within the cosmos sack, and when he saw what was inside, his eyes widened. There were over one hundred Nascent Beads within... enough to get him to the seventh level of the Nascent Profound Realm!

Quickly after, he looked inside the servant's and saw twenty Nascent Beads. Although it wasn't much, it was definitely more than all of the fortune that Issei had ever held in his hands in his entire life. A servant was actually much more wealthy than him... he didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Following that, with a wide and happy smile on his face, he sat down there and then and started refining Nascent Bead after Nascent Bead, his excitement levels over the roof. By each Nascent Bead that he refined, he could feel his power growing stronger little by little; getting one step closer to his goal.

After sitting on the ground for over thirty minutes, he was finally on his fortieth Nascent Bead. Probing his profound veins and dantian with his spiritual power, Issei could see that he was only one shy step away from the seventh level.

With a determined expression, he raised the Nascent Bead to his mouth and swallowed it, feeling it as it climbed down his throat and reached his stomach, thereupon transforming into boundless spiritual power.

This spiritual power was then washed away by his own, and little by little, its nature started to change. It was no longer an owner-less spiritual power, and as of this moment, it belonged to Issei and Issei alone.

A couple minutes later, the thing that he had been waiting for finally happened...

Bang!

Seventh Level of the Nascent Profound Realm!

As soon as his cultivation base increased by one level, he could feel that his body's strength had taken a significant qualitative leap. He was brimming with vitality, and felt more energized than ever. With every beat of his heart, he could feel the blood madly pumping in his veins with much more ferocity than before, like a fierce beast rushing through a field of grass.

Lightning flashed in his eyes due to the excitement. It was only after a few minutes that he managed to calm himself down and slowly analyze the situation. Issei knew that right now, he needed to do something of utmost importance.

He then sent his spiritual power inside his body, and after probing his profound veins and dantian with it, all of his happiness was washed away as fast as it came. That was because he could sense about how much spiritual power would be needed to get him to the eighth level of the Nascent Profound Realm...

He required the spiritual power of the equivalent of over one thousand and six hundreds Nascent Beads to get to the next level. Just as he thought, by each level he passed, the amount needed multiplied by forty...

Sighing, all of his previous excitement completely gone, and now replaced by gloominess, he slowly made his way back to the entrance of the dungeon. When he was about to reach it, he noticed that it was already night.

He was about to step outside, but stopped as he remembered something. He glanced back to the entrance, and a plan slowly formed in his head. Not even three seconds later, he smiled.

He quickly opened and got a black robe from within, donning it in the next moment. Because it was night and he was wearing black clothes, if he stood still, then he would most likely be ignored as his clothes seemed to blend with the surroundings, taking away his presence.

After that was out of the way, he struck the ground beneath him with his feet and rushed out of the tomb with the fastest speed he could muster. A couple of seconds later, he was already far away from the tomb.

Just as intended, no one noticed him exiting the dungeon. Issei didn't bother looking back as he started to run towards the Stone Dagger City, stopping for nothing.

The reason why he made it sure that no one noticed that he had left was simple. He entered there with Hua Yui and two servants. If he left alone, what would other think? There was even the chance that he would be charged for Hua Yui's death, and he definitely wasn't looking forward to that.

As such, he decided that it would better be safe than sorry, so he made his exit as silent and as secret as possible. After that was done, he started running towards the Stone Dagger City while using the partial Lightning Incarnation mode on his legs for increased speed.

Arriving in the Stone Dagger City, he quickly made his way to the inn the Water Devil Alliance members were staying at. He was then forced to report what had happened to Sona, explain himself and, well, a bunch of other stuff that Issei found excessively boring.

Of course, he kept quiet about the martial skill that he had found inside, Xia Mei's ability to sense negative intent and how he kindly sent Hua Yui to have fun hell. This kind of thing were better left unsaid...

After all was said and done, the conclusion was that the trip to the dungeon was pretty much useless to the alliance as a whole; the only one that actually benefited from it being Issei. The only thing of importance to the alliance that happened was that Sona allowed Xia Mei to formally enter the alliance and become a true member. In the end, Sona kept her promise, something that Issei was grateful for.

Following that, they went back to the school, and slowly, their life went by. Issei began to spend his days talking with Xia Mei, doing quests with the Water Devil Alliance, and well, living casually. After all, his body was constantly cultivating, so he had no need to actually sit down and meditate or to follow the usual, boring procedure that everyone else had to follow. Because of that, he could spend his days quite leisurely.

Just like that, two months went by in a flash. Issei had grown a littler taller and was now eleven years old, but he hadn't grown any more masculine in the least. Just what kind of atrocious acts had he done in his previous life for the heaven administer such punish to him...?

As for Xia Mei, surprisingly, she had managed to do the impossible and had gotten even more beautiful. Her hair also grew slightly longer, her bosom bigger and her figure more perfect. The only thing that didn't change at all in her was her cultivation. It seemed that she wasn't too talented in cultivation, and thus her progress was below mediocre.

At this moment, both the young genius and the heavenly beauty were facing each other while standing in front of the school's entrance.

The sun shined brightly, as its bright rays of light reflected against the surface of the densely packed leaves of trees that shrouded the ground below in shadows. Some of the light rays pierced through the leaves of the trees, creating a beautiful scene.

The wind blew by softly, gently bringing the fallen leaves on the ground along with it, some of them sticking to the clothes of the two youngsters

Xia Mei had her back to the entrance while Issei faced her. Behind Xia Mei, there was a large and expensive-looking carriage. On the front, there was a stout man that had an annoyed all over his face, getting tired of waiting for the little miss.

With slightly teary eyes, Xia Mei looked deeply at Issei, her shiny black hair swaying along with the wind, full of emotion. Issei also had a saddened expression, but was much more composed. They simply kept looking at each other, not saying anything, afraid that this moment would end. Finally, Xia Mei couldn't delay it anymore.

"Junior Brother... can you truly not come with me?" Xia Mei asked with pleading eyes. Yesterday had been her birthday and she had turned fourteen. As per her father's agreement with her, she now had to go back to the Blue Wind Nation in order to cultivate at a better sect.

However, she absolutely didn't want to part with her Junior Brother. During these two months, they had grown incomparably close and she had been begging him to follow her back to the Blue Wind Nation for days now.

Issei, however, sadly smiled as he gently shook his head.

"Senior Sister, I have already told you, I can't. I have made a promise with my master that I would become the strongest disciple of the Heavenly Might School, and I have no intention of breaking it.

"I ask you to forgive my selfishness, but I just can't go with you."

Issei smiled lightly and did a slight bow, showing that he was truly sorry that he couldn't go with her. In the end, Issei couldn't bring himself to follow her to the Blue Wind Nation. He was the kind of person that never gave up on his goals mid-way, no matter what. His goal was to become the strongest of the Heavenly Might School, thus he wasn't going to stray away from it.

Xia Mei was about to plead some more, but shut her mouth when she noticed the expression Issei's face. Her eyes getting even redder, she let out a long, sad, sigh. Finally, she said, "Can you at least promise to visit me?"

"Of course," Issei nodded, "I promise to pay you a visit whenever I can."

Xia Mei nodded weakly after hearing his confirmation. Looking at her junior brother, she couldn't contain herself any longer as she ran forward and hugged him tightly, taking him in her arms and embracing him, her head buried in his shoulder.

Taken by surprise, Issei's eyes widened, but soon enough, a soft and gentle smiled appeared on his face as he hugged her back while whispering, "Senior Sister, don't be like this. I promise that we will meet each other sooner than you think."

The young girl kept quiet as she nodded weakly, taking comfort in the warmth coming from the younger boy's body. His warmth made her feel safe. His presence made her feel happy. His being... completed hers.

During these two months, her feelings for Issei had only grown stronger, and as of this moment, she almost couldn't suppress them any more. She had truly, thoroughly fallen in love with this young genius.

However, she didn't dare to say her feelings out loud, afraid of what would happen. She wanted to be together with Issei, but she wouldn't be able to live with herself if he rejected her, and because of that, their will possibly get strained.

She absolutely didn't want to see that, so she could only clench her mouth tight, sealing those feelings deep within her heart. After a while, she knew that she had already postponed it too much, so with extreme unwillingness, she slowly separated from Issei. On the shoulder where her head was resting before, there was a slightly wet spot.

Rubbing her eyes with the back of her hands, she smiled bitterly as she looked at Issei one more time, making sure to imprint his appearance deep within her heart, so she could remember his smiling face every single day they were apart from each other.

She finally said in a saddened voice, "Good bye, Issei."

This time, she didn't use any titles, such as Junior Brother. Since this was likely their last moment together for a long time, she decided that she would skip all the barriers.

Issei also smiled gently and said softly, "Good bye, Mei."

Following that, with a down-cast look, Xia Mei slowly walked back to the carriage, each step she took being heavier and harder to make than the other, as she slowly got further and further away from Issei. When she reached the entrance of the carriage, she looked back one last time.

And, there he was, with a soft smile on his face as he waved gently at her, wishing her goodbye. Tears started to build up once more, but she managed to contain them. With a face full of grief, she walked into the carriage.

The driver sighed, glad that it was finally over as he sat on his seat and started driving it away, bringing it to the Blue Wind Nation.

Issei kept still, standing there as he saw the carriage slowly disappear onto the distance. His composed smile faltered for a split second, giving birth to extreme unwillingness to part, and his eyes reddened slightly, but as soon as it appeared, it was instantly replaced by a hardened expression.

He then buried the feelings that were plaguing his mind within his heart, knowing that they would bring him no benefit. With a serious face, he slowly walked back to the Water Devil Alliance, preparing to tell them the news.

After Xia Mei's departure, everything seemed normal, but two weeks later, some strange things started taking place. Occasionally, during meetings, female members of the Water Devil Alliance would suddenly excuse themselves, only coming there a good time later with a slightly tired expression.

This happened to every female member with the exception of Sona, but when questioned, they would answer that they didn't know what had happened. It was as if their memory had been erased...

This kept going on for many days, and Issei was getting increasingly wary of what was happening. However, even him with his genius mind couldn't figure out what was going on...

Also, this wasn't only happening with the female members of the Water Devil Alliance. Female members from all over the sect, be it Outer Disciples, Inner Disciples or even Core Disciples, had the same things happen to them. When the elders were questioned, they just said to ignore it.

One time, Issei decided to follow one of the female members, but strangely enough, after walking around for a while, she came back. It seemed that because Issei was on her tail, whatever she was going to do had been interrupted...

Aside from that, nothing else of importance happened. After a while, Issei decided to just let it happen as he had no means to stop it.

For two months, they kept doing quests regularly. Their missions ranged from assassination orders, retrieval of items or things similar. Finally, one day, when Issei walked inside the headquarters of the Water Devil Alliance, he saw that everyone was reunited and Sona had a map spread across the table.

He was instantly reminded of what had happened a few months back, remembering that he had seen the same thing when Sona had told them about the tomb near Stone Dagger City. Issei's eyes shined brightly as he immediately inquired.

"Could it be... a tomb?" He asked lightly, making everyone noticed that he had entered the room. Sona then nodded, telling him that he was right.

"Junior Brother Issei, this time, it seems that we have got another tomb to raid."

Issei nodded faintly as he took his seat, which was right by Sona's side, opposite of Tsubaki's. He then looked down at the map and saw a red cross on it. Looking around the area, he saw that it was near the Ling City, a city famous for its commerce.

"When are we heading off?" Issei asked faintly as he kept analyzing the map, also noticing that just like last time, this tomb that they were going to was also situated in a desert.

"Tomorrow at sunset," Sona said as she moved her finger across the map, showing the path that they would take. "We will first head to Ling City and stay there for a while, waiting for the tomb to open. Any objections?"

"Not really," Issei shook his head, excited that he would be going back to a tomb again. He had really enjoyed his last trip, and he was looking forward to going at it again. Sadly, there would be no Hua Yui to suffer this time...

Sona then nodded as she turned around to look at the rest of the Water Devil Alliance, who were all present with the exception of Tsubaki who excused herself a couple of seconds ago in order to go somewhere; just like what had been happening every day with the other girls.

"This is it for the meeting," Sona said with a stern face as she waved her right hand, causing the map that was spread on the table to roll up. She quickly placed it on her cosmos sack as she looked at the remaining cultivators, "Be here tomorrow at the appointed time."

After that, she walked out of the door, going back to her room to prepare for the following day. The remaining members did the same as they excitedly headed back to their rooms, looking forward to the next day.

Little did they know that this would be the last mission that they would ever do.

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	48. Dirty Old Man

**Posting three chapters today. Tomorrow there will be either three or two more chapters, so you should come back to this story tomorrow in order to check it.**

 **Either way, info:**

 **Cultivation Realms – Elementary Profound Realm, Nascent Profound Realm, True Profound Realm, Spirit Profound Realm, Earth Profound Realm, Sky Profound Realm, Emperor Profound Realm, Tyrant Profound Realm, Sovereign Profound Realm, Saint Profound Realm and Divine Profound Realm.**

 **World Spiritist Levels – White-Cloak, Gray-Cloak, Blue-Cloak, Purple-Cloak, Gold-Cloak.**

 **Profound System Ranks - Low Ranked Profound System, Medium Ranked Profound System, High Ranked Profound System, Special Ranked Profound System, Legendary Ranked Profound System, Ultimate Ranked Profound System and Heavenly Ranked Profound System.**

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 **Chapter 48 -Dirty Old Man**

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Laying on his bed, Issei sighed as his brown eyes opened, unable to drift into sleep. He casually lifted his body up, sat cross-legged on top of his bed and started to cultivate in order to calm his state of mind, entering a world of his own.

He slowly breathed in and out, only to repeat it again and again, waiting for his heart-beat to calm down and recede to its usual pace. After a while, he slowly opened his brown eyes again, gazing around his room.

"Senior Sister Mei," he muttered with melancholy, his eyes shining with complex and deep emotions. He then closed his eyes again and went back to meditating, trying to seal the feelings that were haunting his heart.

It was already past mid-night, around three in the morning, and they had arrived at the Ling City a couple of hours ago. The trip had been long and tiring, so they didn't bother looking around the city and immediately went to the best tavern in the vicinity, renting a couple of rooms for them.

The location of the tomb had yet to be announced, so Issei and the rest could only wait in the Ling City for the news. Initially, Sona though she already knew the location, but when she went there, she found out that the information she had been given was inaccurate. As such, all they knew was that the tomb was somewhere near Ling City, but not its exact position. So, in the end, they settled to just wait for an announcement.

The reason for Issei's mood was the absence of Xia Mei. At first, he hadn't been affected too much, but as time passed, he was starting to miss the fiery, joyous fourteen years old girl.

From time to time, he would dream about her, only to wake up soon afterward, being unable to sleep right after. As such, when it happened, all that he could do was to calm his breathing and mind, hoping to stabilize his emotions. He was afraid that they would get on his way when in battle, so he was doing his best to suppress them.

After a while, he finally loosened his position, falling on the bed once more, his eyes opening up. Gazing at the ceiling, he smiled lightly as he thought back to the times he had spent with the overwhelming beauty.

After a while, he took in a deep breath and let loose a sigh. Getting up from his laying position, he once more sat on his bed, but instead of crossing his legs like last time, he left them hanging by the bed side.

He then looked down at his hands, gazing at the small, intricate tattoos designs on both of them. On his right hand was a small drawing of Gan Jiang, the black, hexagon-patterned sword, while on the back of his left hand was the small representation of Mo Ye, the white, wave-patterned sword.

Flipping his left hand, he looked at his palm. At the very middle, there was the drawing of a small, ethereal-looking pearl. That was none other than the mark of the Sky Poison Pearl.

He then smiled lightly as he gazed at the marks of his precious treasures. He then sent some spiritual power into his left palm, making the Sky Poison Pearl's mark disappear. He then flipped his palms once more and summoned both swords out, the marks fading away in the process.

In the darkness of the room, both blades seemed to shine brightly, illuminating Issei's hand in a metallic light. Both of the swords seemed to be humming, as if thirsting for battle. He could feel their desire for blood, for slaughter, and, most of all, for killing.

A few weeks after Xia Mei left, Issei had already resumed his killing streak, killing some more scum-like disciples of the Heavenly Might School. Most of them were disciples who abused of their power to hurt others and rape the female disciples. He only targeted the disgusting people, as he had no interest in killing the innocent.

After some kills, he finally came to the conclusion that both of his swords, Gan Jiang and Mo Ye, were more than they appeared to be. Every time they were bathed in blood, it was as if he could feel them growing excited.

He slowly came to the realization that both swords had something akin to a conscience, with a bloodthirsty and battle-crazy personality. Most people would think that they were cursed, and try to get away from them, but Issei didn't really mind it. He was no saint; he killed without remorse. If he were to feel disgusted at his swords, than he would be nothing short of a hypocrite.

He had also really come to create a bound with both swords over the months, and they were practically inseparable. He knew that these swords would be the kind that would accompany him until the end; he would never discard them in this lifetime.

The corner of his lips curled up slightly as he played with the swords in his hands, enjoying the familiarity he felt from them. After a while, he recalled them back, making the tattoos reappear on his hands.

Also, aside from the tattoos that came from the sword and pearl, there was also his Profound System Mark. Obviously, it wasn't his real mark, the Grim Reaper's Mark, as Shinso had concealed it with some special kind of paint, and, instead, it was some random, Medium Ranked Profound System, the Tiger's Profound System. He couldn't let others find out about the Grim Reaper's Mark, so he pretended to have another one.

Anyhow, Issei got up from his bed, and started pacing around his room, thinking about what he should do. He couldn't go back to sleep, and was too bored to cultivate. After a while, he was about to lay down on his bed again, but was stopped mid-way by a knock on his door.

Sighing, he walked away from his bed and opened the door, finding a beautiful yet cold Sona looking at him, a small yet sharp smile decorating her cold feautures.

Sona, as surprising as it may seem, wasn't wearing her usual robes, and instead was using a dark-blue dress that reached her knees. This dress, coupled with her cold, sharp face, made her look like an ice princess; cold-hearted and reclusive.

"Senior Sister Sona," Issei nodded his head, greeting her in his usual, smart and cold look. Since he had decided to get rid of his acting, he settled for just being himself. And, since Xia Mei, who brightened up his life, had gone away, his true self had gotten even colder. He looked just as, if not more, apathetic and cold as Sona.

Looking at cold and calculating eyes, Sona sighed, wondering how someone that appeared so innocent was actually like that. In the end, she shook her head slightly and said, "Junior Brother Issei, I thought that we should head out a bit."

"Head out?" Issei inquired as he cocked up his left eye-brown, his eyes subconsciously darting to the window right by his bed, seeing that the sun was already up. Inwardly, Issei was surprised, but his face didn't change in the slightest.

Sona nodded, "Yeah, I'm thinking of going to the market place and seeing what is there. Want to accompany me?" She asked, hopping for a yes. During this past few months, Sona's relationship with the boy had grown closer, probably due to the lack of Xia Mei, making Issei seek comfort in another person.

However, differently from Xia Mei and Issei, Sona and him had a different kind of relationship. There wasn't that love in the air like there was between him and Xia Mei. Instead, he viewed Sona more as an older sister and she looked at him as a younger brother.

In fact, Sona had taken it upon her self to assume the role of the young boy's older sister, trying to brighten up his mood. Although it didn't seem like it, she wasn't too bad of a person. In fact, she was sweet and caring, but just didn't show it. She obviously cared for her surrogate younger brother, and wanted to brighten up his mood by spending some time with him outside.

She knew that ever since Xia Mei had left, his mood had taken a turn for the worse. That girl was much more important to him than it seemed.

"Oh? Sure," Issei nodded upon hearing Sona's question, clearly seeing Sona's intentions. He was happy that he was trying to cheer him up, so he wasn't going to refuse her offer. Walking out, he closed the door to his room.

A couple of moments later, they were already walking through the streets in Ling City.

Ling City had always been a city famous for its commerce, and now that there was a tomb about to open up, there were many cultivators there, eagerly awaiting for the announcement. As such, some of them saw some chances of making profit, so while they waited, they decided to take out some of their belongings and set up some stalls, making some money with that.

Sitri Sona had heard of that not too long after she arrived in the city, and since she noticed that Issei was in a bad mood, she decided to take him out of his room, and have him take in a bit of fresh air. She also wanted to buy some things, so this was killing two rabbits with one stone.

Currently, both of them were walking around the city, gazing around at the stalls set up all over the place, looking for something that could catch their interest.

After a while, they came across a street stall that sold jewelry for girls. Sona, although seemingly cold and apathetic, was still a girl in heart, and like any other girl, liked jewelry. So, when she saw that stall, she immediately stopped to gaze it.

She was clearly attracted to the displayed jewelry, even going as far as kneeling down on the ground and starting to select some of them. However, because of her cold look, she didn't seem happy at all, and instead seemed like she was just looking at some random trash. Her face didn't betray what she was feeling inside in the least.

On the other side of the stall, there was an older lady, that was clearly the one who had set it up. She was experienced, and although she saw that Sona had a cold look in her features, she knew that there was interest within her eyes. She also knew that girls who could keep such a cold look were normally part of rich families, and carried a lot of money with them, so she was excited, thinking about the profits she was about to make.

She immediately started to introduce various items to Sona, flaunting the jewels, giving them imaginary back-grounds, saying that some were worn by queens and princesses along with some other bullshits.

While that happened, Issei stood silently and motionlessly by the side, looking between Sona and the business woman. He could see that this old woman was much more shrewd and cunning than it seemed, and if it were a normal girl, they would obviously be swooned into buying the jewels. She was indeed a crafty business woman.

After a while he grew bored of watching them, so he cast his gaze around, looking for something to do. As he did so, he happened to discover an old man lying not too far away from him, resting on the ground.

That old man had most likely seen better days. He was quite dirty and muddied. Issei couldn't help but to wonder how many time it had been since he had taken a bath, seeing that his hair was completely covered in what seemed to be mud, clumped together in lumps.

His face was incredibly dirty, patches decorating his entire clothing, and within the patches, there were even more patches. Besides him, there was a cloth bag, and some mysterious thing was bulging inside. He was wearing strange pants, with one of the legs of his pants long and the other short. His shoes weren't in a much better state, with the front revealing his toes and the back showing off his dirty heel. He might as well go all the way and cut them, making them into sandals.

Also, he wasn't like the other people around him, madly advertising, trying to draw in costumers. He was simply laying there, one leg crossed over the other, casually looking down at the floor. He didn't so much as bother sparing a glance at the customers going to and fro.

Although the old man didn't seem to be actually there to sell stuff, and was most likely was just bathing in the sun, there was a pile of books in front of him, something that caught Issei's attention.

The books seemed simple, but for some reason he couldn't fathom, he felt a strange feeling coming from those books. Since he had nothing better to do, and his interest was piqued, Issei walked over to where the old man was sited, intending to see just what was special about those books.

 **Read & Review~!**


	49. Damn Old Swindler

**Info:**

 **Cultivation Realms – Elementary Profound Realm, Nascent Profound Realm, True Profound Realm, Spirit Profound Realm, Earth Profound Realm, Sky Profound Realm, Emperor Profound Realm, Tyrant Profound Realm, Sovereign Profound Realm, Saint Profound Realm and Divine Profound Realm.**

 **World Spiritist Levels – White-Cloak, Gray-Cloak, Blue-Cloak, Purple-Cloak, Gold-Cloak.**

 **Profound System Ranks - Low Ranked Profound System, Medium Ranked Profound System, High Ranked Profound System, Special Ranked Profound System, Legendary Ranked Profound System, Ultimate Ranked Profound System and Heavenly Ranked Profound System.**

* * *

 **Chapter 49 - Damn Old Swindler**

* * *

Nearing the old man, Issei spared one last glance at the pile of books, making sure that the strange feeling that he was getting from them wasn't an illusion. He then looked up and gazed at the old man.

"Old man, how much does this books costs?" Issei asked as he looked at him with curiosity. Since he was there to buy something, he tuned down on his coldness.

The old man, however, didn't bother raising his head. He simply lifted up his hand, and extended one finger towards Issei.

"One copper coin?" Issei tried. The currency used in the Continent Of The Nine Provinces was rather strange. The normal currency, used by most people, was actually quite simple. There were cooper, silver and gold coins. One silver coins is worth one hundred cooper coins and one gold coin was worth one hundred silver coins.

However, things could also be bought with spirit grass and beads. It all depended on the seller. Issei had also heard that in the other countries in the Profound Sky Continent, the currency used was different. All the other countries used the same currency, which was called Profound Currency or something. He didn't know too much about them.

Back to Issei, it seemed that his guess wasn't right.

"One cooper coin?! Is it even enough to buy a meal for a beggar?!" Hearing Issei's words, the old man quickly raised his had angrily and got up from his laying position, sitting up with whoosh.

"Oh?" Issei mouthed with surprise. "So you want a silver coin?"

Although Issei seemed polite on the surface, he was actually cursing in his heart, "Beggar? Please, with that appearance, you would be insulting the beggars." However, he didn't voice his opinions, keeping a straight face. Being a miser in heart, he couldn't help but to feel angry at this beggar.

"One Nascent Bead and you can take everything in my stall!" The old man exclaimed loud and clearly, a stubborn expression on his face.

"One Nascent Bead!?" Issei couldn't keep his cool any longer. "Isn't that just stealing? How do you even have the gall to charge that much for these books?!"

If they were dealing with money, then it was obvious that Issei would get stingy.

However, the old man didn't seem bothered in the least. He nonchalantly laid on the ground once again and said one simple and short sentence, "Take it or leave it."

Soon after, he muttered to himself, "My books were given to me by my ancestor. Within them, there's bound to be some treasure, but foolish people just can't see their true value. If it wasn't for the fact that I'm too hungry, I would never dare to take this book out for sale."

"Ancestor?" At that moment, Sona, who had already finished her dealings with the crafty business woman, walked over to where they were.

"My ancestor is an important figure. He's a dignified and powerful World Spiritist!" The old man huffed his chest and boasted proudly.

"Hoh?" A cruel smile formed on Sona's cold lips, "Shameless, aren't you? Lying like this in broad day light..."

Sona obviously didn't believe it. World Spiritist were incredibly important figures, and in the entire Azure Province, at the very best, there were only three of them. People who are born with Spirit power are incredibly rare. Not even one out of ten thousand people had spirit power!

The old man simply shrugged his shoulders at Sona's cruel words and said, "It isn't my business whether you believe me or not. At the end, only someone smart will buy this." As he talked, he also closed his eyes, seemingly no longer interested on them.

"You old..." Issei was about to start, but stopped. Sighing, he patted his cosmos sack, a small, circular bead appearing on his hand on the next moment.

Seeing his actions, Sona immediately spoke up, "Junior Brother Issei, what are you doing? Don't tell me you really plan to buy it."

Issei simply shook his head, "I have a feeling that whatever is on those books will be somewhat useful to me. Although it pains me to do this, I feel like I must."

In his heart, he was indeed feeling pain for having to part with one of his most precious possessions. However, Issei had a hunch that whatever was in that pile of books would be beneficial to him in the future, so he decided to go along with it.

In his entire life, he had always followed his instincts, and it was only by doing so that that he managed to get this far. By this point, he already had complete faith on them. If it told him to buy this pile of book with the absurd price of a Nascent Bead, he wouldn't even spare a second thought and do it!

Issei then looked back at the old man, who had long since opened his eyes the moment he felt the increase in the spiritual energy in the area, which had come from the Nascent Bead. His eyes were filled with greediness and lust, as he glared at the Nascent Bead with never-before-seen intensity. It seemed like he was going to try to forcefully snatch it from him at any moment.

"Old man, I'll buy your books," Issei finally said, pain filling his heart.

"Amazing! You actually have a Nascent Bead! You are quite rich, young man," The old man immediately grabbed the Nascent Bead on Issei's hand and started to carefully inspect it. Knocking on the bead with his left hand for a couple of times, he seemed to be convinced that it was the real deal. He immediately brought it close to him and lovingly embraced it, as if it was his own child.

"This is your first time seeing a Nascent Bead, right?" Sona sighed with disdain at the man. She knew it clearly that the man was a swindler and was trying to fool Issei. However, she knew that Issei wouldn't do anything rash or stupid, so she didn't try to stop him.

Issei, however, said nothing, his gaze already away from the old man. He then knelt down and placed his hand next to the books. In the next moment, they seemed to flicker, disappearing soon afterward. Just like that, they were sent into the inner world of the Sky Poison Pearl. However, in the eyes of others, it seemed as if he had placed them inside his cosmos sack.

"Haha, young man, you have quite the insight. Not bad, not bad at all," The old man praised happily as he kept the Nascent Bead glued to his cheeks, as if it was his life-line. He then continued, "As I admire you, a youth who has good eyes, I'll give you a present."

Following that, the old man placed his hand inside his broken cloth black and soon after retreated it with an object in his hands.

This object was a purple disk. It had a mysterious look to it, and seemed to be made of some kind of special material, seemingly some rare wood. On each of its four sides, north, east, south and west were engraved. On the left and right, life and death, good luck and bad luck were engraved on it. Furthermore, carved in the center of the wooden disk, there was a strange symbol.

"Oh?" Looking at the disk, curiosity flashed through Sitri Sona's face as she took it in her hands and analyzed it. She could feel something strange coming from the disk.

"Hoh, young lady. This thing is quite a special object. It's essential for World Spiritists.

"It can predict good luck and bad luck, along with life and death. It's called a World Spirit Compass!" The old man exclaimed loudly, pretending to be an expert in that field.

"Oh? World Spirit Compass?" A flash of surprise flashed on Sona's face before she smiled coldly, "Then, how do you use it?"

"This..." the old man seemed flustered. "This is a thing for World Spiritists! How should I know?! Either way, you two study it on your own. Glad to do business with you!"

The old man then scratched his dry and dirty beard and rolled his eyes anxiously, obviously afraid that Issei would decide to go back on his purchase. He immediately jumped up, turned around and started running away, all the while holding the Nascent Bead close to his heart.

Seeing that scene, Sona spared a glance at Issei, trying to see his reaction. From his actions, he seemed truly suspicious, so she was wondering if Issei was regretting spending his Nascent Bead.

However, when she looked at him, she only saw him smiling lightly, his eyes filled with deep emotions. Sighing, Sona said nothing as she handed him the supposed Word Spirit Compass.

"Let's get back for now," she simply said as she started walking away, feeling that Issei's mood was already better. The fact that he had shown so many facial expressions was the proof of that.

Issei nodded as he turned around and followed Sona back to the tavern.

After arriving, both of them entered Issei's room, closing the door in the process. Sitting down on his bed, Sona looked at him with a small yet cold smile, "So, do you mind telling me why you went along with that purchase? Was there some sort of treasure in that pile of books?"

Issei then nodded slightly as he also sat down on his bed and pretended to get the pile of books from his cosmos sack, while in reality, he brought it from the Sky Poison Pearl.

In front of them, at that moment, a pile of books popped into existence. Getting up from the bed, Issei walked over to it and knelt down, before rummaging through the books.

After a while, he finally saw something that he felt a strong feeling from, and picked it out. This particular book was completely covered with a thick layer of dust, but just from one glance, it could be noted that it was extremely different from the others.

Although it looked quite old, unreliable and shabby, it was still in a good condition, with no damage to its contents. It gave one a mysterious feeling just from looking at it, and Issei could feel as he held the book in his hands that the materials it was made of were obviously special.

Issei then swiped the book with his free hand, clearing the dust. After being cleaned, a few words appeared. "Burning Heaven's Church Secret World Spirit Compass Guide."

 **Read & Review~!**


	50. Burning Heaven Compass

**Info:**

 **Cultivation Realms – Elementary Profound Realm, Nascent Profound Realm, True Profound Realm, Spirit Profound Realm, Earth Profound Realm, Sky Profound Realm, Emperor Profound Realm, Tyrant Profound Realm, Sovereign Profound Realm, Saint Profound Realm and Divine Profound Realm.**

 **World Spiritist Levels – White-Cloak, Gray-Cloak, Blue-Cloak, Purple-Cloak, Gold-Cloak.**

 **Profound System Ranks - Low Ranked Profound System, Medium Ranked Profound System, High Ranked Profound System, Special Ranked Profound System, Legendary Ranked Profound System, Ultimate Ranked Profound System and Heavenly Ranked Profound System.**

* * *

 **Chapter 50 - Burning Heaven Compass**

* * *

As soon as Issei looked at the words engraved on the cover, his eyes widened. Such a coincidence... it couldn't be true, right?

Sona had also read the words, and her eyes were also widened, an expression of surprise on her cold features. She then grabbed it from Issei's hands and started to wipe the cover of the books with her hands. After cleaning it with detail, she said, slightly shocked, "If this is what it claims to be, then you have earned quite the profit."

Issei could only nod as he grabbed the book back from her hands and started to flip through the pages. As soon as he saw the contents, his eyes widened even more. That was because what was written on the pages completely defied common sense.

World Spirit Compasses could only be used by World Spirtists, that was common knowledge. They needed Spirit power to be operated, so no other type of person could use it. However, what was inside the book, completely went against the common belief.

Within the book, it explained how to use the World Spirit Compass with spiritual power! Not Spirit power, but spiritual power! That meant that even Issei, who wasn't blessed with Spirit Power, was capable of using a this compass!

Seeing his look of surprise, Sona couldn't help but to ask, "So, is it the real deal?"

Issei was about to nod, but stopped mid-way as he thought of something. He just couldn't say that the contents within this book could literally defy common sense, right? Even if it was his Senior Sister Sona, he wouldn't tell her that. Issei was selfish by nature, and he was afraid of what would happen if it was found out that he possess such a treasure.

So, after a split-second of thinking, he nodded, "Yes, it is indeed a guide for World Spiritists to use a World Spirit Compass. It explains how one should use spirit power to operate it."

Hearing his words, Sona was shocked, but didn't doubt it. She trusted Issei's judgment, so she didn't try to look at the book in order to check if his evaluation was wrong. She then nodded and said, "Then, Junior Brother Issei, congratulations. You have gotten your hands on a treasure.

"Although I don't know what this Burning Heaven's Church is, it's most likely an incredibly powerful sect to have a book on World Spiritists techniques. Even though you can't use it, as you don't have spirit power, its market price is most likely huge."

"Huge?" Issei inquired, curious.

"Yes, I would say it's worth hundreds of True Beads, if not Spirit Beads. However..." Sona then stopped and adopted a thoughtful look, "Strange, I wonder why that old beggar would hide such a special thing under that pile books..."

She then stopped, before her eyes widened slightly. "Oh... it's possible that he doesn't know how to read."

After that, her face resumed to her cold, usual look as she glared back at Issei, wanting to see his reaction.

As expected, his eyes were widened.

"Hundreds of True Beads? Nascent Beads?" Hearing Sona's words, Issei was shocked, his face that was usually emotionless filled with disbelief.

"Yes," Sona nodded as she explained. "You see, although extremely rare, there are a couple of youths in the Azure Province with Spirit power. However, they can't become World Spiritists because they don't have any World Spiritists techniques. Techniques made for World Spiritist are normally never written down, and are usually passed from a World Spiritist master to his disciple, as means of keeping his legacy alive.

"If you put this Burning Heaven's Church Secret World Spirit Compass Guide on the market, then this youths who have Spirit power but no master would without a doubt pay sky-high prices in order to acquire it. Things like this are always in high demanding, yet lacking in merchandise."

Hearing Sona's words, Issei couldn't help but to wonder just how much this book would actually sell for. The Burning Heaven's Church Secret World Spiritist Compass Guide was obviously in another level when compared to normal World Spiritist techniques, as it not required one to be a World Spiritist to use it. Issei had the faint feeling that even millions of Sky Beads wouldn't even be enough to buy this single piece of book.

However, more than anything, he had no intention of selling it. Issei was a person who was selfish by nature. This was a treasure, and he wasn't about to let anyone else has it. If he had it, he would have a huge advantage over others, but the moment others possessed the book, then he would lose this advantage.

Sona then sighed as she said, "Either way, it's yours, so you decide what to do with it."

Following that, Sona got up from the bed and walked towards the door. Just as she was about to open it, however, she stopped and looked back at Issei.

"Junior Brother Issei, I'll call you when the tomb location is announced. It's probably going to be in this week or the one after that."

After saying there, she opened the door and walked out, leaving Issei alone in his room. The young boy glanced around the room before smiling lightly, going to the door and locking it.

Although this lock couldn't really prevent a cultivator from entering, he still felt more secure with it. After finishing his preparations, Issei climbed back to his bed, grabbed the Word Spirit Compass from the Sky Poison Pearl, laid it in front of him and finally began reading the Burning Heaven's Church World Spirit Compass guide.

After reading it for a couple of minutes, he was finally able to understand it. This book was divided in two parts. The first one explained how this is an extremely precious book, and how its possible to use spiritual power to use a World Spirtist Compass.

The second part was, in fact, a martial skill, that allowed one to use the World Spirit Compass. It was called Burning Heaven Compass. However, Issei soon learned that this Martial Skill was even harder than the Four Ways Of The Lightning in terms of difficulty.

Even Issei, who had otherworldly comprehension capabilities when it came to martial skills, something that allowed him to see everything in an extremely simplified manner, found the cultivation method for this martial skill to be extremely complicated.

Although it did not say the rank, Issei had a feeling that, at the very least, it was a rank 9 martial skill, something that was said to not exist in the Profound Sky Continent. Because of that, he came to a conclusion.

From what he could see, this martial skill was many times harder than the Four Ways Of The Lightning. Much, much more difficult. From his guesses, it would take him a little more than one week of non-stop practicing in order to be able to begin using the World Spirit Compass.

Issei, however, wasn't discouraged. In fact, it was the opposite. He was excited! He had always enjoyed a challenge, and if this martial skill wasn't considered a challenge, then nothing was.

As such, Issei completely threw his sense of time and space outside of the window and started to cultivate without stopping for even a second.

From that moment on, pretty much other than sleeping and eating, he would be studying it, never walking out of his room. While Issei was completely immersed in his cultivation, more and more cultivators started to arrive at the Ling City. By the end of the week, Ling City was completely overcrowded with cultivators, and there were many people who had to camp outside of the city because of the lack of place to stay in.

Also, people from the Heavenly Might School had arrived shortly after the Water Devil Alliance. Not only that, the group that came was composed solely of core disciples. Most surprising of all was the presence of Long Tian, the number one core disciple of Heavenly Might School, the one known as the undefeated genius.

Because of that, Sona had already ordered the members of the Water Devil Alliance to switch robes, changing from the robes of the Heavenly Might School. That was because Long Tian wasn't too fond of the Water Devil Alliance, and he had quite a rivalry with them. According to rumors, the founder of the Water Devil Alliance was a female disciple, and Long Tian had taken a fancy to her. However, she rejected him and from that moment on, Long Tian took on the role of oppressing the Water Devil Alliance.

Thankfully, he couldn't go to far when in school grounds, as there were many of the top 10 core disciples of the school were part of the Water Devil Alliance. But, as long as it was outside the school, then he definitely wouldn't hold back. Because of that, Sona made sure that everyone changed their attire to remain inconspicuous.

Aside from the Heavenly Might School, the Thousand Thunder School also arrived, and in their ranks, there were many core elders and core disciples. In short, all of their elites.

The Thousand Thunder School had a deep rivalry with the Heavenly Might School, so whenever they met, fights would happen. It was unknown how this hatred between them started, but it was said to have something to do with their founders.

Finally, even other schools and sects made their appearance, all of them sending out their best disciples and elders. It could be seen that compared to Issei's previous experience on a tomb, this one had attracted much more attention. Apparently, the expert that left behind this tomb was someone much more amazing and known than the one that owned the previous tomb that Issei went in. Because of that, much more people came to this one.

In the city, everyone was mixed together. Conflicts would happen on a daily basis, and looking at the situation outside from his window, Issei knew that there would be bloody conflicts when the tomb was opened.

As for Issei, he was still cultivating diligently, sitting cross-legged on top of his bed, his eyes closed and the World Spirit Compass on his hands.

He had a face full of concentration, and beads of sweats were forming on his forehead. His face was already flushed red, and he seemed to be channeling all of his power into the martial skill Burning Heaven Compass.

*whoosh whoosh whoosh~~ *

Suddenly, the words on the World Spirit Compass started to faintly glow. Opening his eyes, Issei could see as the words flowed out from the Word Spirit Compass and started to float in the air. Then, they started to rapidly circle around it.

Seeing that scene, a wide smile broke out on Issei's face as he rejoiced. This not only meant that he had succeeded on his cultivation of the Burning Heaven Compass, but also that this was the real deal.

If he could take this to the tomb, then he would have an unimaginable advantage over others!

That was because, on the first part of the book, it explained the uses of the World Spirit Compass. According to what was written, a World Spirit Compass was a valuable treasure. With it, he could find an opportunity to live during a battle, or find the correct path on a maze. In simpler terms, it was a treasure-finding tool.

If this was used in a tomb, then Issei couldn't even imagine the levels of profits he would have!

 **Read & Review~!**


	51. Overwhelming Power

**Guys, bad news. I just received some news, and I'll have to head out today for the majority of the day, so I most likely won't be able to post another chapter. I'll try, but no guarantees. Well, things like this happen, so I must ask you to bear with it. Again, I'll try to write another chapter, but don't get your hopes up.**

 **Either way, thanks for the reviews on the previous chapter.**

 **Info:**

 **Cultivation Realms – Elementary Profound Realm, Nascent Profound Realm, True Profound Realm, Spirit Profound Realm, Earth Profound Realm, Sky Profound Realm, Emperor Profound Realm, Tyrant Profound Realm, Sovereign Profound Realm, Saint Profound Realm and Divine Profound Realm.**

 **World Spiritist Levels – White-Cloak, Gray-Cloak, Blue-Cloak, Purple-Cloak, Gold-Cloak.**

 **Profound System Ranks - Low Ranked Profound System, Medium Ranked Profound System, High Ranked Profound System, Special Ranked Profound System, Legendary Ranked Profound System, Ultimate Ranked Profound System and Heavenly Ranked Profound System.**

* * *

 **Chapter 51 - Overwhelming Power**

* * *

After seeing the activation of the World Spirit Compass, Issei nodded with satisfaction before storing it away inside the Sky Poison Peal.

His mood was good, and since he was satisfied with his progress on the Burning Heaven Compass martial skill, he decided to take a breather outside of the tavern. However, before he could even take a couple of steps outside, he picked up on a constant string of curses.

"Stealing?! You're stealing?! Let's see if you dare to steal from me anymore! Damnable beggar, I'll beat you to death!"

In an alley not too far away from him, two large and bulky figures were ganging up and beating a single, pitiful-looking, person. This person was none other than the incredibly dirty, broken-clothed beggar from before.

Originally, Issei didn't care much for that. He simply didn't have the patience to bother with such things, and given that the beggar was obviously trying to swindle him the day before, he still had some resentment on his heart. Even to this day, the loss of a Nascent Bead pained his heart.

However, when he looked at that scene, he noticed something strange. The beggar, although under the constant barrage of attacks from the two people, didn't seem affected at all under the beatings. He even went as far as ignoring them, minding his own business as he ate the bun in his hands.

Seeing such a strange scene, Issei's interest was piqued. He didn't feel any pressure coming from the beggar, so he had thought that he was just like a commoner, with no cultivation. But, how could a normal person possibly possess such a strong and resilient body?

"Stop." Feeling that something was undoubtedly strange about that situation, Issei walked forward and uttered that single word.

Hearing Issei's cold yet low voice, the two people quickly stopped, as if struck by lightning. They turned around slowly, and when they saw that the person that spoke such words was such a young, girly looking boy, they couldn't help but to hold back a snicker.

"What's this? Little girl, are you lost? Do you want this big brother to help you find your parents?" One of the bulky males offered mockingly, obviously not putting Issei in his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah," The second one added. "This isn't a place for little girls to be walking around alone."

They seemed to want to speak more sentences, but stopped mid-way when they suddenly felt overbearing killing intent upon them. With widened eyes, they noticed that the person who was releasing it was none other than this girly-looking boy.

Instantly, their personalities did a complete change as they noticed that this young boy was most likely a cultivator. They went from rash and cruel to docile and respectful in a split second, shutting their mouths tightly in the process.

Seeing their reactions, the corner of Issei's slip curled upwards slightly.

"What's happening here?" Issei finally inquired with coldness.

"This damn beggar stole our bun," One of them spoke out, a humble yet wronged expression on his face.

Nodding, Issei said, "I'll pay for the stolen bun," he then stopped, seemed to think of something, and then continued, "Also, go buy ten more of them and bring them over here." Afterward, he gave some cooper coins to one of the bulky males.

Immediately after receiving the coins, they nodded fiercely, "Of course, yes yes," both of the males didn't dare to move slowly and quickly ran, coming back a couple of moments later holding 10 buns. They then turned around quickly and tactfully left.

With that, in that alley, only Issei and the old beggar remained. Issei looked over at the beggar and tried to evaluate him, but didn't find anything out of the ordinary.

He discovered that his age was probably not too high, at least not high enough to be considered an old man. He seemed to be under the middle-ages upon closer inspection, and his eyes were lifeless as if he was confused. Issei had probably judged his age wrongly because of the deplorable state that his was in, which made him look much older.

The beggar was eying the buns in Issei's hands with intensity. If Issei gave the buns to him, he would eat them, and if he didn't give the buns to him, then he wouldn't take them. However, he couldn't help but to keep looking at the buns, continuously drooling.

"Wait, this is..."

Just at that moment, Issei's pupils suddenly widened slightly, only to narrow a second later. He had just noticed, with astonishment, that on the forehead of the beggar, there was a bizarre-looking scar. Well, if it was called a scar, it wouldn't fit too well, because it seemed like it was brought from the heavens itself and grown from the flesh. It was as if it was something that came from within him, and not a result from an external force.

The reason for his surprised expression was because of the scar's shape. It looked like a ball of flame, and it gave everyone that looked at it a vivid feeling, as if it was endlessly burning.

Unconsciously, Issei stuck out his index finger, approaching the scar, intending to touch it. He just felt something drawing him to it.

"What are you doing?!"

However, just as his index finger made contact with the scar, the middle-aged beggar suddenly bellowed, becoming a completely different person. A hand immediately bolted out, and like a steel clam, firmly grabbed Issei's wrist.

At that instant, Issei's face changed greatly as he had to hold back a curse. He could clearly feel that terrifying layers of suffocating pressure were surging out from the beggar's palm. This waves of pressure entered his body, burning his insides, and if it continued for any longer, after a short moment, his body would certainly explode, resulting in his death.

The overwhelming pressure came in huge waves. One wave after another continuously surged into Issei's body, increasing the pressure inside him.

That scary, oppressing power, seemed like it was going to crush and tear his organs, and the bone-shattering pain made him want to yell out.

However, no matter how much he opened his mouth, no sound was formed. It was as if his voice had been taken away, and in front of that power, he lost all his abilities to resist. He was just like a cattle waiting to be slaughtered.

However, just as he felt that he was one-step away from death's door, the pressure diminished in an instant as the beggar screamed.

"It's you!"

At that moment, the beggar yelled out in fear, as if completely and thoroughly scared by something. Not only did he loosen his grasp on Issei's wrist, quickly returning his hands, he started backing off straight until he leaned on the corner of the walls. He then bent his body down and shrunk into that corner, his whole body trembling.

Occasionally, he would look up and shoot Issei a glance. However, the more he looked, the more terrified he got. At the end, he tightly hugged his head with both his hands and started to tremble fiercely.

Issei's eyes were widened, and a surprised expression on his face as he didn't know what to do when faced with such an overwhelming change. One moment, this beggar was a death god and in the other, he was a pitiful, little, kitten, awaiting his death.

Issei instinctively spun around and looked at his surrounding, searching for whoever caused such reaction, but he didn't see even a shadow. That meant that the beggar was speaking to him. But, that made Issei feel that something was undoubtedly wrong, so he steeled his nerves, went up and asked, "Do you know me?"

"Don't come close! I beg you, please forgive me. I'm sorry that I failed, I'm sorry! It's not my fault! Blame them! They made me lose him! Please forgive me! I don't want to die yet!"

However before he could even take a step closer, the beggar suddenly started yelling. He then waved his beg sleeve and a strong swing came sweeping around him. When the wind dissipated, Issei discovered with utter astonishment that the beggar had disappeared, without leaving behind even the faintest trace.

At that moment, Issei's expression was somewhat complicated. He was throughout shocked in his heart because in that scene that just took place, anyone could easily see that the insane beggar was undoubtedly an expert in cultivation. It was a real, overbearing expert, so strong that he was unpredictable and Issei couldn't even guess the level that he was at.

And, he had a feeling that even his master, Shinso, couldn't even stand to his feet.

But, the thing that most shocked him was the that the beggar seemed to recognize him. Not only that, he displayed immense fear towards him! Although he didn't know the specific reasons, Issei had a hunch that this beggar may somehow know his origins.

As mentioned before, when young, Issei was left alone at the doorstep of the house of the slave trader. After that, he was picked up by him and made into a slave. The slave trader only told him that, and didn't explain the situation of that day.

Initially, while still a slave, Issei felt that his parents had abandoned him, and he didn't have any urge to search for them. After all, parents who abandoned a child weren't worth searching for.

However, after he discovered that he had a Profound System, and an incredibly powerful one at that, along with genius aptitude to cultivation, he started to figure that his past was not as simple as it seemed. In the end, however, he still wasn't sure of it.

But, after meeting with this beggar, he was now sure that his past was much more complicated than it seemed. How did the beggar, who had such impressive cultivation, go insane? What relationship did he have with him? What task did he fail? Who are his parents? Or, perhaps many years ago, something happened?

All sorts of questions rushed into Issei's head like the tide, making him increasingly curious towards his own identity. Also, the beggar said to blame them. Who is he talking about? Furthermore, who did he lose? Even with his impressive intellect, he couldn't make sense of the situation.

But, just at that time, a cold voice reached his ears.

"Junior Brother, there you are. I've been searching for you."

Issei's head immediately turned around, and he noticed that his Senior Sister Sona was standing at the entrance of the alley, and she was looking at him with curiosity. She then quickly went over to him as if some important thing happened.

"Senior Sister Sona, what's wrong?" Issei asked as he hurriedly organized his emotions.

"The position of the tomb was already announced. Right now, all sorts of powers are rushing over there. We need to depart quickly as well or else we won't be able to acquire precious treasures," Sona said quickly, clearly eager to depart.

 **Read & Review~!**


	52. Never Heard Of You

**Info:**

 **Cultivation Realms – Elementary Profound Realm, Nascent Profound Realm, True Profound Realm, Spirit Profound Realm, Earth Profound Realm, Sky Profound Realm, Emperor Profound Realm, Tyrant Profound Realm, Sovereign Profound Realm, Saint Profound Realm and Divine Profound Realm.**

 **World Spiritist Levels – White-Cloak, Gray-Cloak, Blue-Cloak, Purple-Cloak, Gold-Cloak.**

 **Profound System Ranks - Low Ranked Profound System, Medium Ranked Profound System, High Ranked Profound System, Special Ranked Profound System, Legendary Ranked Profound System, Ultimate Ranked Profound System and Heavenly Ranked Profound System.**

* * *

 **Chapter 52 - Never Heard Of You**

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The position of the tomb had been announced a couple of minutes prior to Issei interrupting the fight between the insane beggar and the two youths, but it took some time for Sona to find Issei, and as such, she was quite distressed, afraid that they would be in a disadvantage in terms of time when compared to the other groups. Every single minute counted.

While no one knew who the announcer of the map was, everyone was certain that whoever that person was had obtained huge profits that could sustain him or her for a life time. After all, every single power in the vicinity was lusting for the map; how could he possibly not make use of the situation?

Either way, currently, all of the powers had already gotten their hands on a map and were already making their way towards the tomb, using their fastest speeds. Furthermore, at that time, the atmosphere in the city was overwhelmingly tense, war threatening to break out at any given moment.

Sounds of swords clashing, shields bashing and explosions happening could already be heard through the city as every single cultivator there rushed towards the city entrance. The groups that were already closest to the tomb were the two main powers of the area, the Heavenly Might School and the Thousand Thunder School. Conflicts were already happening between members of their groups outside of the city, ranging from small fights to huge battles.

Issei, who had already exited the alley and was already heading towards the Ling City's gates was specially glad that he had followed Sona's advice to take out his Heavenly Might School robes. Or else, they would be in deep trouble if the Thousand Thunder School caught sight of them. He probably could escape using his superb speed, but the remaining members of the Heavenly Might School would be in a much more terrible situation.

After a while, they had finally managed to pass through the city's gate along with a huge crowd of cultivators that hailed from many different sects, schools and clans. Around them, there were many people excitedly talking.

"There! They are the core disciples of the Heavenly Might School!"

"Huh? How come they are still fighting? They have yet to enter the tomb… if treasures really appeared, wouldn't this become a complete blood bath?"

Not too far away from Issei's group, there was a Heavenly Might School disciple battling against more than a dozen Thousand Thunder School members.

This particular Heavenly Might School wore a deep azure robe and it was obvious that he was a core disciple. In the Heavenly Might School, the deeper the color of your clothes, the higher your position was. Outer court disciples wore extremely light blue robes, inner court disciples wore azure robes and core disciples wore deep blue.

The disciples of the Thousand Thunder School, albeit having the advantage in numbers, lost in quality. After all, it was obvious to the onlookers that they were only inner court disciples.

With the cultivation of the third level of the True Profound Realm, the Heavenly Might School core disciple, although faced with a small army of Thunder Thousand School disciples, didn't display an ounce of fear; his handsome face betraying the emotions of superiority and contempt that he felt as he gazed at his enemies.

On the other hand, the other group only had a single member of the True Profound Realm, and he was only at the trifling first level. The Heavenly Might School disciple had the absolute advantage.

Very quickly, in a couple of minutes of fighting, all of the Thousand Thunder School disciples had their faces buried in the sand, full of bruises, although still breathing. The Heavenly Might School core disciple, however, didn't even have ragged breathing. He looked just like he had taken a casual walk in the park, squashing some insects in the way.

In the end, though, he hadn't killed them. If he were to do that, then even he would have to face some punishments. After all, that would make the tension between the Heavenly Might School and the Thousand Thunder School even worse.

The scene of the youth standing proudly amongst the defeated disciples caused many of the observers to send looks of surprise, admiration and even fanaticism towards this core disciple, whose face was as smug as it could get.

Not too far away from this core disciple, there was a group of core disciples from the Heavenly Might School, who although having a rather high standing, were much weaker than the other youth, and in fact were only his followers. They displayed equally smug faces and stuck out their chests proudly, as if the one to kick the asses of the Thousand Thunder School disciples had been them.

"Hehe, I knew that joining the Heavenly Might School was the best decision that I have ever made. Sending out elites like us is way better than sending out these trash," one of the core disciples boasted loudly, his face akin to that of a proud peacock.

However, differently from those core disciples, all of the members of the Water Devil Alliance had somber expressions, and had looks of what seemed to be fear. When they glanced at the particular youth who was standing amongst the knocked out bodies of the Thousand Thunder School disciples, they unconsciously hastened their pace, trying to get as far away from his as possible.

"Keep your heads down and pass by quickly. Be as inconspicuous as possible," Sona warned in a rushed and quiet tone to the other Water Devil Alliance members.

However, before they could get far away, they heard a proud voice directed at them.

"Sona! Is that you?!"

Turning around, the members of the Water Devil Alliance saw that the same Heavenly Might School youth from before was walking towards them, an elated yet lusting expression on his face.

Sona, though, was different as she didn't turn around and quickened her steps even further, desperate to get away from this disciple. Sadly, this person was too fast, and in seconds, he had already caught up, standing in front of the group, directly opposite Sona.

"Sona! It really is you! Why didn't you turn around when I called you out?" The core disciple said with a dazzling smile that seemed to be full of good intentions. Issei, however, wasn't fooled, as he could see the sheer massiveness of ill thoughts that were going through that person's head just by looking at his lustful eyes.

"Senior Zhou, what a coincidence seeing you here." Sona, however, had a cold face as she tried to force out a smile, but failed miserably at that task. It was obvious how much she loathed this Zhou person.

"Hehe, no need to treat me as a stranger. You can always call be Senior Brother Zhiyuan. Even dropping the Senior Brother is fine." This core disciple, Zhou Zhiyuan spoke with cheerfulness, while, at the same time, sweeping his lustful eyes all over Sona's body. Saying that he was raping her with his eyes would be a much more correct way of describing his actions.

While that happened, Issei could feel the damp and cold mood that suddenly came down upon the members of the Water Devil Alliance. They were all cursing silently, wishing that they could butcher that bastard in front of them.

If it was anyone else, then the Water Devil Alliance wouldn't need to think twice before sending him to an early grave, but this Zhou Zhiyuan wasn't a simple nobody. They were facing someone from the same school as them. Not only that, he was a core disciple, and even within the core disciples, his status was special. He was one of Long Tian's, the number one core disciple, most loyal follower, and a close friend of his.

Aside from his terrifying status, his strength also wasn't something that could be overlooked. Between core disciples, his strength would probably be between the thirty to twenty strongest. He could easily be considered a dragon within men. How could they dare to offend this mighty figure?!

"Sona, you're probably here for the expert's tomb, right? Seeing your clothing, you must be afraid of meeting trouble. However, fear not! With me, Big Brother Zhiyuan here, you don't need to fear anything. I'll guarantee that no one will bully you!"

While he spoke, this Zhou Zhiyuan fellow had the gall to shamelessly smile and extend his dirty hand, obviously intending to embrace Sona. The guy's speed was also very fast, and he was only a couple of milliseconds away from taking her in his arms.

However, he wouldn't be able to accomplish his objectives, as just as he was going to have his away, Issei abruptly appeared right next to Sona and placed his arm in front of her, blocking the path of the core disciple.

His speed was so fast that all of the members of the Water Devil Alliance didn't even see him moving. In one second, he was calmly riding his Fierce Profound Beast and in the next moment, he was right by Sona's side, arm extended.

When the core disciple saw this, he blinked his eyes in astonishment, before his expression changed greatly, turning into wrath. If looks could kill, Issei would already be dead a thousand times over. He looked like he was about to kill Issei at any given second.

However, Issei didn't seem fazed in the least by Zhou Zhiyuan's intense stare, and glared back at him coolly. He then said in a low voice, "I must thank Senior Brother for his suggestion, but right now we are in a hurry, so we must get on our way."

As he said that, he was already turning around, planning on dragging Sona away with him, but just as he was about take a step, a voice interrupted him.

"Boy, who are you?!" Zhou Zhiyuan's face turned green. Forcefully enduring his anger, he extended his index finger towards Issei and inquired with fierceness.

Just as he was one step away from taking the ice queen into his arms, this little kid appeared out of nowhere and tried to take her away! Who did he think he was to try to steal the woman he, Zhou Zhiyuan, had his eyes on?!

"Who am I?" Issei questioned as he turned around, his eyes shining with coldness. Instead of answering, he asked back, "Before that, who are you?"

"Who am I?" The core disciple sneered coldly, "I'm Zhou Zhiyuan, a core disciple from the Heavenly Might School!"

"Oh?" Issei displayed surprise, "You're Zhou Zhiyuan?"

Seeing the little boy's reaction, Zhou Zhiyuan smiled with smugness, "That's right."

However, Issei's next words completely flattened his ego.

"Never heard of you."


	53. Hidden Objectives

**Info:**

 **Cultivation Realms – Elementary Profound Realm, Nascent Profound Realm, True Profound Realm, Spirit Profound Realm, Earth Profound Realm, Sky Profound Realm, Emperor Profound Realm, Tyrant Profound Realm, Sovereign Profound Realm, Saint Profound Realm and Divine Profound Realm.**

 **World Spiritist Levels – White-Cloak, Gray-Cloak, Blue-Cloak, Purple-Cloak, Gold-Cloak.**

 **Profound System Ranks - Low Ranked Profound System, Medium Ranked Profound System, High Ranked Profound System, Special Ranked Profound System, Legendary Ranked Profound System, Ultimate Ranked Profound System and Heavenly Ranked Profound System.**

* * *

 **Chapter 53 - Hidden Objectives**

* * *

"You…"

At that moment, Zhou Zhiyuan's face turned ashen, his eyes widening and veins popped up in his forehead. His face went through various color changes – White, blue, red and finally ending on green. At that moment, his killing intent was high enough to reach the heavens.

Not only him, but even the members of the Water Devil Alliance had surprised expressions. Their jaws dropped in shock, their eyes considerably widened.

Issei's nerves caused each and every one of them to look at him in amazement. He dared to disrespect a core disciple just like that, saying it out loud so everyone could hear him. All of the Water Devil Alliance members suddenly felt numb in their scalps, a bad feeling welling up within them.

"You're seeking death!"

At that moment, just as they feared, Zhou Zhiyuan leaped forward. His figure was akin to that of a fierce tiger as he swung his arm with vehemence, his palm that was suddenly coated in spiritual power carried the sound of ripping apart the wind as it aimed towards Issei's face.

*Whoosh *

However, before he could do anything, Issei, who was just before his eyes, suddenly vanished from view. His eyes widened considerably as his palm aimlessly swept past the space where the younger boy had just been.

In the next moment, Zhou Zhiyuan's eyes widened as he felt pressure building up behind him. Before he could do anything, he suddenly felt as if a huge beast had collided against his back as his body was suddenly lifted from the ground.

This attack would have worked on most people, but Zhou Zhiyaun definitely wasn't someone to be taken lightly. While in mid-air, he did a back-flip, falling steadily on the ground. In the moment he did so, however, he felt pressuring building up inside him. His mouth then opened, blood gushing forth.

That punch had made him cough up blood!

At that point, Zhou Zhiyuan's eyes snapped to the position he had just been at, finding a small, delicate looking boy there. He was just casually standing there, looking at him with disdain.

The moment he saw that, Zhou Zhiyuan felt immense rage building up inside his heart. His vision turned red, as he lost sense of everything but a single thing – The youth who had just punched him.

"Damn you!"

While screaming, Zhou Zhiyuan lunged forward, straight at the delicate looking youth. As he ran, he slapped his cosmos sack, a longsword appearing on his right hand. Not stopping for even a moment, he jumped at the youth.

"Heavenly Cross!"

Spiritual power exploded from his sword in a fierce manner. It then quickly began converging into two giant lines, that intersected with each other, forming a three-meters long cross.

"Oh?"

Looking at the attack in front of him, Issei's eyes widened slightly as he stretched his fingers in his right hand, emulating a sword. He then swept his hands downwards in a wide arc!

"Heavenly Strike!"

Spiritual power exploded from his extended fingers, slowly becoming a large, sword-like energy beam that clashed against Zhou Zhiyuan's attack.

*Bam! *

A large sound exploded out as the two martial skills collided, shocking everyone in the vicinity. The sand in the ground immediately scattered in the air, shrouding the space around them with a sand smoke.

At this point, everyone was holding their breaths, not daring to move as they all waited for the sand to drift back to the ground. Deep fear and worry was present in the eyes of all the members of the Water Devil Alliance.

Soon enough, the sand in the air dispersed, allowing everyone to see again. However, when they saw the scene in front of them, all of their eyes widened considerably.

Not too far away from them were two people. One with an azure, inner disciple robes and another with a deep blue, core disciple clothes.

One of them was standing proudly, his figure calm as he looked at the second, who was kneeling on the ground, a large bloodied line on his torn robes, that extended from his left shoulder all the way to his navel.

The first person wore an azure robe while the second wore a deep blue robe….

When everyone took notice of that, their eyes widened considerably. The one left standing was none other than Issei! Which meant… that the one on the ground… was…. Zhou Zhiyuan!

"How..."

A core disciple from Zhou Zhiyuan's group muttered with disbelief. His eyes were widened, and he looked at the scene as if he didn't dare to believe it. When he saw that his senior brother had started battling with this inner disciple, he was excited and rushed over to see the battle, looking forward to Zhou beating this young boy's ass. However, what he saw was the complete opposite!

The other core disciples near him had similar expressions as they all expressed their disbelief in one-word sentences, that ranged from "How?" to "What?".

While everyone stood there dazed, Zhou Zhiyuan, that was still bleeding, clenched his teeth as he ripped apart his robes, clutching it together and pressing it on his wound, applying pressure in order to stop the bleeding.

While he did so, the rage in his eyes that seemed to be be shining with ever-burning passion slowly dissipated, replaced with somberness.

After a while, he lifted his head and gazed deeply at Issei. There was undoubtedly hatred in his eyes, as well as loathing and wrath, but at the same time, they seemed to be contained.

He coughed up another mouthful of blood. The blood sprayed in the desert's ground, painting the sand in red. His eyes turned colder as he gazed at Issei,

"You… do you dare to say your name?!" Zhou Zhiyuan finally asked, his killing intent covering the entire area. After finding out the level of power of this delicate looking boy, he didn't attack anymore. Instead, he questioned him.

"Although I don't see any reason..." Issei began coolly, "I don't see why not. I'm an inner disciple of Heavenly Might School, Issei." Issei didn't bother mincing words and postponing something that was inevitable, so he announced his name loud and clear.

"Issei..." Zhou Zhiyuan repeated before laughing cruelly, "Very good, I've remembered you."

He then slowly got up from the ground, his toned upper body bare, except for the single piece of clothing that he kept pressing against the giant slash that ran across his body.

"I'll be awaiting you inside the tomb. I look forward to our next meeting."

Zhou Zhiyuan then turned around, and without saying anything, took his leave. Seeing that, all of his followers widened their eyes, before running after him, making sure to take out their best medicines as they ran, intending to gift them to Zhou Zhiyuan.

Now, Issei was finally left alone with the members of the Water Devil Alliance. As soon as he noticed that Zhou Zhiyuan was far away, he immediately fell to the ground, coughing up a mouthful of blood.

"Junior Brother!"

Immediately, the members of the Water Devil Alliance that had just been standing there stupidly snapped back to their senses and rushed to him, worrying for his situation. However, before they could even get close, Issei extended his left hand, stopping them in their spots.

"No need for worries," He began as he took in a mouthful of fresh air, ignoring the felling of tiredness that took over his body, "Let's just get on our way. I'll be back in a prime condition in an hour."

Even with those words, the members of the Water Devil Alliance seemed to want to say something more, but just one glance into Issei's cold eyes was enough to make them shut their mouths tightly.

Sighing, Issei got up and slowly walked in the direction of his Fierce Profound Beast. He then made a slight jump, falling directly on top of it. He then looked at the Water Devil Alliance, who had yet to mount their Fierce beasts and said in annoyance.

"Let's get going already. We have lost too much time."

Following that, he slapped his beast slightly, making it dash forward into the distance. Seeing that, the members of the Water Devil Alliance didn't dally in any longer as the ran back to their mounts, quickly catching up with Issei.

While they continued their travel, all of them didn't say a single word, but kept sending glances full of worry towards their younger brother. That was the first time that they had actually seen him cough up blood, so they were quite affected.

In the end, though, they didn't really need to worry. Just as Issei said, his condition wasn't too bad.

When he had blocked the attack, he had overused his spiritual power, causing a disturbance in his blood flow which led to him coughing up blood. In fact, the act of coughing up blood was of minor importance. His main problem was the fact that he had completely drained his spiritual power in order to deal with that strike.

Initially, he felt that it wouldn't be too much of problem, so he only used his hands, but when he noticed the sheer destructive will of the power, it was already too late to call Gan Jiang and Mo Ye out, so he could only channel all of his spiritual power into his hand.

When he thought of that, Issei cursed slightly. For him, if it was anyone below the fifth level of the True Profound Realm, with his current amount of problem, he would be able to win, albeit with a little difficulty.

Zhou Zhiyuan, however, wasn't a normal cultivator. He was a genius in his own right, and his battle prowess could be compared to those of the sixth level of the True Profound Realm, a power that even if Issei went all out, he wouldn't be able to match.

The only reason he actually managed to win the fight was the fact that Zhou Zhiyuan was too enraged to think with clarity. If he had been in a right state of mind, Issei knew for sure that the end result would be very, very different.

That showed that Issei still had much to improve, which only served to further increase his desire for cultivation resources.

In the end, though, he won, so there wasn't too much of problem. Not only that, he also manged to accomplish one of his objectives with that, which was to create deep enmity with a certain person's group.

"Long Tian, Long Tian," Issei muttered, a dark look on his face, "You're in for so much trouble..."

Issei, obviously, wasn't a person that acted without thinking. Before taking action, he would always consider the consequences and see if the pros outweighed the cons. This time was no exception, as he angered Zhou Zhiyuan on purpose.

From the start, he knew that Zhou Zhiyuan was Long Tian's, the number one core disciple, close friend. In fact, he created enmity between him and Zhou Zhiyuan for this very reason. He wanted to anger Long Tian.

Issei's objectives on this trip to the tomb, although it may not seem like so, didn't restrain themselves to only acquiring the treasures. It could be said that he had some darker, crueler, plans.

 **Read & Review~!**

* * *

 **AN: Also, guys, I have some info to tell you. For this dungeon trip, I'll be basing myself on the Chinese novel Martial God Asura. As I said, this story is in fact a the fan fiction of a bunch of Chinese novels, including Martial God Asura.**

 **As such, if you have any interest on knowing kinda what is going to happen, I suggest you give Martial God Asura a read. Warning: The MC is a jackass. Like, seriously, Chu Feng is the kind of people that kill bastards but is a bastard himself. Like, he has already raped what? 4 girls? And on two of them, at the very least, he was conscious and did it on purpose. Aside from that, he is a pretty cool guy that cares for his friend (LOL). However, its not too bad as they don't take much time on describing it, and basically just gives the reader the main idea. (Sorry, no true R-18 scenes.)**

 **Now, if you're wondering, then I'll tell you right now that Issei isn't based on Chu Feng. Although there are some similarities, Issei's personality will be much different from his. If you want an idea, it'll be pretty similar to Meng Hao from I Shall Seal The Heavens. (A series that I seriously recommend. Best novel I have ever read by far.)**

 **Now, if you really are interested on how this story will develop, I suggest you read Against The Gods (Not mine. The Chinese novel.) You see, for the time being, I'm mixing the MGA time-line along with my own ideas, adding some events from my own and excluding some others. However, in about 20-40 chapters, I'll enter the ATG story-line. Obviously, I'll not completely copy it.**

 **I'll work with their characters, and also the events that happen there, but there will be major differences. For example, some events will end up completely different, the relationship between the characters will be different and there will even be some characters that are OOC and many other stuff. (Basically, I'm getting the main events and twisting them around to fit Issei's personalities and my wishes. Also adding new events and taking out others.)**

 **For example of some of the changes, let's imagine that in ATG (Chinese), the MC gets a treasure from a trip. On mine, he'll get a different treasure, will face different obstacles and many other stuff, but the place they are going is the same. In the end, it will be kinda like a fan fiction. Also, the relationship of Issei with the characters from ATG will be much more different than the ones Yun Che (MC) has with them.**

 **In reality, for every chapter I'm writing right now, I'm reading a MGA chapter beforehand to know how to proceed. For example, the dungeon trip in MGA is from chapter 46 until 64.**

 **Either way, if you're liking the concept of cultivation and many other things of my story, then I suggest the following novels:  
**

 **Martial World;**

 **Martial God Asura (Again, you must ignore the beast that the Main Character is to enjoy it);**

 **True Martial World;**

 **I Shall Seal The Heavens (The very best.);**

 **A Thought Through Eternity (Only 17 chapters in. From the author of ISSTH. MC is funny as hell too.);**

 **Heavenly Jewel Change (MC is kinda like Issei from DXD in the beginning. I mean the perverted Issei.);**

 **Martial Peak;**

 **Against The Gods (Again, not mine.);**

 **Devouring The Heavens;**

 **Tales Of Demons And Gods. (More childish than the others.);**

 **Battle Through The Heavens;**

 **Transcending The Nine Heavens (Tired of One-dimensional villains? Do you like bigger schemes, politics and many other cool stuff? If so, this is for ya!).**

 **Finally, there is My Beautiful Teacher. In this one, it's a story with cultivation that takes place on the modern world. Really interesting, I suggest it (MC is also devilish. Quite literally, as he IS a Devil.)**

 **Now, if you're into Sword Art Online and Log Horison-like stories, then I suggest Shura's Wrath (Barely. It's pretty messed up.) and Zhang Long (This one is kinda messed up too...).**

 **Finally, this is it for now. New chapter is gonna be out tomorrow.**


	54. Killing In The Tomb

**Info:**

 **Cultivation Realms – Elementary Profound Realm, Nascent Profound Realm, True Profound Realm, Spirit Profound Realm, Earth Profound Realm, Sky Profound Realm, Emperor Profound Realm, Tyrant Profound Realm, Sovereign Profound Realm, Saint Profound Realm and Divine Profound Realm.**

 **World Spiritist Levels – White-Cloak, Gray-Cloak, Blue-Cloak, Purple-Cloak, Gold-Cloak.**

 **Profound System Ranks - Low Ranked Profound System, Medium Ranked Profound System, High Ranked Profound System, Special Ranked Profound System, Legendary Ranked Profound System, Ultimate Ranked Profound System and Heavenly Ranked Profound System.**

* * *

 **Chapter 54 - Killing In The Tomb**

* * *

After riding their profound beasts for a couple of minutes, the tense atmosphere had already lightly dissipated, and it seemed that most people were starting to get over what had just happened. Taking that opportunity, Sona pulled her beast close to Issei, who was in the lead position.

"Junior Brother, I must say, I'm grateful that you stood up for me back then," She said with a weak smile, trying to lighten up the mood. Sadly, it seemed that the heavens hadn't blessed her with such ability, as every time she spoke, a cold aura would appear. Trying to lighten up the mood… was simply an impossible act for her.

Issei, although slightly perturbed by the cold atmosphere, understood her reasons and that she wasn't giving off that cold aura on purpose. It could be said that he was one of the people that understood her the most.

Shaking his head, Issei simply gave her a faint smile, "Don't worry about it, Senior Sister. That's simply my job as your Junior Brother."

Sona nodded, already expecting such answer from him. Her face then grew serious as she continued, "But still… don't you think you were too rash? I know you, and you must have your reasons, but still..."

"Senior Sister, as you said, I do indeed have my own reasons, so you shouldn't worry about it. I knew what I was doing from the start," assured Issei with a small smile.

Seeing that Issei didn't plan on saying anything more, Sona nodded. She then saw his condition and said, "How much time will it take for you to get back to prime condition?"

Prime condition? Issei thought over for a moment before answering back, "I would say in about ten or twenty minutes."

He was the one who best understood his body. Not only because of the fact that he was the owner of the body, but also because he had deep understanding of a human's physique, due to the medicine books he had read earlier. As such, he was able to accurately judge his condition and recovery rate.

Furthermore, he wasn't really injured. Sure, his arm had been slightly damaged in that battle, but it wasn't anything too serious. After all, the damage wasn't caused by an enemy's attack, but instead because he channeled so much spiritual power into it too quickly, doing some light damage to the veins and meridians. Thankfully, this type of wound wasn't too serious, and in a couple of minutes, with some medicines, he should be fine.

In fact, the main problem was the fact that he had been completely drained out of his spiritual power because of that battle. For that main attack, he had gone all out, resulting in him being sucked dry. Since he had some extra Saint Spirit grasses on his Sky Poison Pearl, he absorbed them, recuperating most of his spiritual power. As such, in ten or so minutes, he should be able to engage in battles again.

Anyways, after Sona heard his answer, she seemed slightly shocked, but didn't think too much about it. After interacting with Issei for months now, she came to the conclusion that his words shouldn't be doubted.

After that, she moved her profound beast away from him, letting him go back to meditating in peace.

Following that, nothing of much importance happened in their trip, as it proceeded rather smoothly. While following the map, they saw many small and big conflicts happening on the way, but since they had no reason to, they didn't step in.

Finally, before the sky became dark, they arrived at tomb's location.

At that moment, the tomb had already been opened, although it seemed that it only happened quite recently, given the huge influx of people that were still rushing in. However, Issei could not see anyone worth mentioning in the crowd of cultivators that were still entering, so he deduced that the strongest ones, such as the core disciples of the Heavenly Might School and the geniuses of the Thousand Thunder School, had already entered.

"Damn… it seems that we won't be able to get the good treasures," A person said not too far away from Issei, clearly dispirited. After all, with this many people already inside, it would be hard to acquire anything worthwhile.

Still, Issei wasn't discouraged as he said calmly, "Maybe.. maybe not. At the very least, we should enter as fast as we can. If we dare to dally any longer, I'm afraid that we won't even be able to get a grain of sand...'

Following that, he leaped down from his profound beast and started walking towards the tomb in a fast pace. Behind him, the members of the Water Devil Alliance did the same, and soon enough, the entire group was already following Issei inside.

The place where they were heading, the tomb, was created under the desert, and it surpassed everyone's imaginations by far. Since it was underground, there was a wide tunnel, the entrance, and on both sides, there were luminous rocks hung on the walls. The entire road was completely lit up by the rocks, and although it was almost night, people had the feeling that it was still day-time.

Going forward, before even walking for fifty meters, a round hall appeared. This particular hall was incredibly luxurious, and was lit up by many, expensive-looking lams. Even for Issei, this was the first time he had seen such luxurious indoor decorations, and it really was a sight to behold.

However, this round hall wasn't the end of the tomb. Not in the least. In fact, there were dozens of similarly-sized tunnels there, every and each one of them being very deep, so deep that even with a partial Lightning Incarnation on his eyes, Issei still couldn't see the end.

At this moment, the members of the Water Devil Alliance were standing on the center of the wide, round hall, and were glancing with anticipation towards the tunnels.

"Junior Brother Issei, do you have any idea on which path we should take?" Seeing that it was like a maze, Sona and the members of the Water Devil Alliance cast their gazes at Issei. After all, on their previous tomb adventure, it was also a maze design, and Issei managed to find the treasure in the end. As such, at this point, they couldn't help but to rely on the younger boy.

However, Issei only shook his head as he said, "The tunnels are far too deep, and I can't see their end. All we can do is to bet on our luck."

Even so, he still pointed at a tunnel. He had a faint feeling in his gut that he should take this path, and as a person that had complete trust in his instincts, he didn't hesitate to follow them.

Obviously, Issei could use his World Spirit Compass to easily find the correct way, but he couldn't reveal that secret in front of so many people. All he could do was to keep it tightly guarded with him until he came across an opportunity when he was alone.

Anyhow, after pointing at the tunnel, he rushed at it, Sona and the other following closely behind. Not too long after entering, they found that on both sides, many doors appeared. Some of them were already opened, and it was possible to see a large amount of cultivation resources inside of each one of them.

Furthermore, as expected, in many rooms, and even in the corridor, there were many fights going on, most of them for the ownership of the cultivation resources and the treasures found. There could even be sighed people of the same sect or school fighting.

Aside from the opened doors, there were also closed ones. On each of them, a black, huge and menacing iron door blocked their path. These ones still hadn't been opened, so there were obviously treasures inside. Many of the cultivators there were sending barrage after barrage of attacks at some of the doors, hoping to break them.

Issei, like many others, decided that it would be better to just choose from one of the unopened iron doors. After all, he had no intention of getting into additional trouble by fighting over the treasures within the opened doors.

"I'll open this one."

Issei looked over the doors, and after finding one that seemed firm and sturdy, walked over to it. After he arrived in front of the door, he didn't say anything and simply raised his right arm, stretching and hardening his fingers, making them resemble a blade.

"Heavenly Strike."

Swiping his hand downwards, just like a blade, a medium-sized arc of sword beam flashed out of his hand, colliding against the door.

*Screee! *

The sound of metal ripping apart rang in their ears as soon as the blade arc found its target, the door being completely sliced into two pieces. Just like that, Issei opened the iron door that many cultivators were having difficulty against.

Immediately after it was opened, a wave of spiritual energy rushed out from within the room. Low-grade Spirit Grass, Middle-grade Spirit grass, High-grade Spirit grass and Saint Spirit grass… many different types of cultivations resources were there, right before their eyes. There were thousands, if not tens of thousands, just laying around there, waiting to be picked up.

"Tomb? Is this really a tomb? This is just a treasure trove!"

One of the members of the Water Devil Alliance exclaimed in happiness. All of the people present were ecstatic, seeing that this trip had been worth it in the end. They also knew that what awaited them was a path of riches, as there were several dozens rooms just like this one on this tunnel. And, this was only one tunnel out of dozens…

"Tsubaki, Sa Ji, Kusa Reya and Meguri, the four of you guard the entrance. Garo Loup, Issei, Ruru, us four will go inside and store the spiritual medicines within our cosmos sacks. As for the remaining members, you all just stay on guard."

Sona immediately called out the orders, to which everyone nodded. After saying that, Issei, Sona, Loup and Ruru rushed in, taking their cosmos sacks out and beginning to madly store the spiritual medicines within them without restraint. It didn't matter if it was the low-quality or the Saint Spirit grass, every single one was taken away.

In fact, the only one who didn't really show any interest was Issei. After all, he needed over one thousand and six hundreds Nascent Beads to get to the next level. How could he even bother with spirit grass? Still, in the end, he still got himself a considerable amount, as he knew that it could also be used as currency and was many times more valuable than hundreds of gold coins.

However, at that moment, Issei picked up on a conversation that was happening by the door.

"Move. If you don't, we will kill slaughter you all," A rough, masculine voice said.

However, Issei could hear Sa Ji's angered answer.

"This room was opened by us, so the cultivation resources here belong to us."

Following that, someone snickered.

"Ha! What a joke! Things here have no owner. You think it's yours just because you found it? Tough luck brat, but it doesn't work that way."

Issei immediately turned his head around, and saw that at the entrance, there was a bunch of male cultivators glaring at the members of the Water Devil Alliance, a fight threatening to break out at any moment

Although Issei couldn't see which school this group belonged to, from the aura he felt emanating from them, he could see that none of them were in the third realm, the True Profound Realm. However, they were still stronger than the members of the Water Devil Alliance that were guarding the entrance.

Sona looked at the scene, and when she saw what was happening, a scowl appeared on her face. However, when she noticed their levels of cultivations, her eyes widened before she had to hold back a laugh. Although she wasn't enough to deal with them, for her Junior Brother Issei, that managed to contend against someone of the middle stages of the True Profound Realm.. this was simply nothing!

Before Issei had opened the door, he had already seen this group of people. They hadn't tried opening any doors, and had just been quietly standing at the tunnel, observing the changes. After Issei opened the door and walked inside, they came rushing over. In the end, they were just a bunch of leechers.

Sighing, Issei turned back to Sona, "Continue gathering the cultivation resources. I'll be right back."

After that, he walked forward to the entrance. He knew that in the entire group, only he had the qualifications to deal with these people, so he decided to quickly get it over with.

Currently, a fight had already started, and Sa Ji was battling against a black clothed youth. Just as this youth was about to cast a martial skill, he suddenly stopped dead in his place, as his head suddenly fell of his shoulder in a shower of blood.

Issei didn't even give the enemies time to retaliate as he entered the battle like a slaughtering demon, blood gushing forth from the necks of many of the opponents. Within the time it takes one to blink, five screams had already rang out. These proud cultivators, who had absolute confidence on their power, were simply slaughtered like cattle, their heads cleanly and effectively sliced out of their shoulders.

That scene terrified the remaining people of the group, and they immediately stood on guard, taking many steps back. While retreating, a bald youth pointed at Issei and screamed in rage, "Boy, how could you dare to kill?! Do you know who we are?!"

*Whoosh *

However, before that person could even finish speaking, Issei disappeared from sight. In the next moment, he was taken aback as he felt a voice coming from his side.

"Save your words for the devil."

In the next moment, Issei's palm, that was just like a sharp blade, struck out, the person's head flying up in the next moment.

After finishing with this guy that seemed to be the leader, Issei glared at the remaining members of that group. They were all cowering in fear, all of their pants wet.

Issei's hand, that was still bloodied, pointed at them at them. He then said a single, but deadly sentence, "If you don't want to die, get away from my sight."

His killing intent was boundless, and just like a hurricane, it drilled into their minds. They immediately looked at their dead comrades and then glanced at Issei's bloodied hand. Without a single word, they turned around and started to run away as fast as they could.

They were all terrified of Issei's power. Although Issei seemed like a tender and delicate little boy, he was as ruthless as the devil. It could be said that he was killing without even blinking,.

Issei simply stood there, a calm expression on his face. He didn't feel nothing from killing this bunch of bastards. It was obvious that if it wasn't for him there, given their killing intent, if the Water Devil Alliance were to go against them, then they would have died. If they wouldn't show mercy, then why would he?

Issei was a simple person. If the person was kind, innocent and had nothing to do with him, then he would restrain from killing them. However, if it was a damnable and despicable bastard, he wouldn't even need to think twice before taking their life. This was the path that he had decided to take, and was one that he would definitely follow. This was a path of survival, where only the fittest survive. This was Issei's path.

 **Read & Review~!**

* * *

 **AN: Jimakos, I'll answer your question in the next chapter. I simply don't have the time today, sorry.**


	55. Blood Corpses

**Info:**

 **Cultivation Realms – Elementary Profound Realm, Nascent Profound Realm, True Profound Realm, Spirit Profound Realm, Earth Profound Realm, Sky Profound Realm, Emperor Profound Realm, Tyrant Profound Realm, Sovereign Profound Realm, Saint Profound Realm and Divine Profound Realm.**

 **World Spiritist Levels – White-Cloak, Gray-Cloak, Blue-Cloak, Purple-Cloak, Gold-Cloak.**

 **Profound System Ranks - Low Ranked Profound System, Medium Ranked Profound System, High Ranked Profound System, Special Ranked Profound System, Legendary Ranked Profound System, Ultimate Ranked Profound System and Heavenly Ranked Profound System.**

* * *

 **Chapter 55 - Blood Corpses**

* * *

After all of the people of that group had left, Issei finally turned around to face the members of the Water Devil Alliance. Currently, everyone was looking at Issei, an expression of slight fear all over their faces.

After all, the members of the Water Devil Alliance were still young, and although they had already experienced a lot, they had never truly killed a person with their own two hands. In fact, they never went in assassinations missions.

However, Issei was different from them. The killing intent that emanated from his body was nothing short of deadly, and undoubtedly authentic. Only someone who had already killed many times before would be able to emanate such fierce, strong and blood-thirsty killing intent.

Furthermore, from what they had just seen, he wasn't one to bluff. He would really kill, and in fact, he just did so. Not only that, he was completely merciless, his expression not changing in the slightest when taking one's life. Only the killing intent that Issei emanated could be so terrifying, capable of bringing up fear from the bottom of anyone's heart.

Even so, at the same time, while they indeed felt fear, they were also rejoicing in their hearts. Rejoicing that Issei wasn't their enemy, but instead, their comrade. If they were to face him in a battle, they didn't dare to even think of what kind of dangerous situations they would have to go through.

"All of you, go inside and collect the remaining cultivation resources. I can guard here." Issei said calmly as he casually swiped his hand in the air, causing the blood on it to fall on the hard, stone ground.

"Yes," All of the remaining Water Devil Alliance members nodded without hesitating, immediately rushing into the room. At that moment, the way they viewed Issei in their eyes changed even more. Now, he wasn't just a strong teammate. He had now become the leader of their operation, taking Sona's job.

From that moment onwards, Issei and company opened several more doors. Well, Issei did. They just entered the room and took everything within.

At the same time, many stupid, naive and foolish people tried to rob Issei, aiming for his cultivation resources. Their result, however, was that they only got a one-way ticket to hell. Issei didn't spare even a single one of the foolish cultivators that tried to rob him.

By the time they were almost done, the killing intent emanating from Issei's body had already gotten even stronger than before. Now, every time a cultivators looked at him, they would immediately walk away. His face, which was delicate, cute and tender, in their eyes, was akin to that of the devil.

At this point, there were only a few unopened doors on both sides, but Issei had already had enough of Spirit grass. They had already accumulated enough grass to last a life-time. Instead, they decided to take the initiative and delve deeper into the tunnel.

What Issei was looking for was the Nascent Beads. To him, even if it was millions of Spirit Grass, they would be useless. Actually, they had already acquired nearly 10 thousand low-grade spirit grass each. However, to Issei, it could only be used as money.

Furthermore, Issei was sure that further inside, he would find some good, interesting treasures. After all, according to the information that they had gotten, this was the tomb of an incredibly powerful expert. It was impossible for him to not have placed at least a few beads inside.

However, when they went deeper into their tunnel, a dense, metallic, smell of blood rushed towards them like waves in the sea. In front of them was a wide hall, and as soon as they caught sight of it, coupled with the terrifying blood stench that emanated from it, they stopped dead in their tracks, completely stunned.

The reason for their reaction was simple. The spacious hall in front of them was filled with corpses. From their attire and state, it could be seen that it hadn't been too long before they had died, and they were most likely some of the people that entered the tomb when it was opened

However, as if that wasn't enough, there was an even more terrifying thing there. Surrounding the corpses, there were many humanoid monsters. They were extremely ugly, even more so than the ones Issei had met in his previous tomb adventure.

Their appearances was miserable, their appearance akin to a human that had shed off their skin, and it seemed absolutely terrifying. All in all, it was a top-grade nightmare material.

Furthermore, from the aura around their bodies, it could be seen that they could cultivate, the weakest ones of them being at the late stages of the Nascent Profound Realm and the strongest ones being at the early stages of the True Profound Realm.

Currently, the strange, ugly-looking monsters were munching the flesh of the corpses around them, taking huge bites. They were much more scary and ruthless than profound beasts found in the wild.

Finally, the most important part has yet to come. There wasn't one or two monsters, or even ten. No, there were several hundred of them, occupying as much space as the corpses around them. Because of that, if a group wanted to cross the hall and reach the exit on the other hand, they would have to go through this army of terrifying monsters.

"Blood corpses..." Sona muttered in a low voice, her eyes shining with disbelief. "So many of them..."

Seeing Sona's expression and the words she had said, Issei couldn't help but to ask, "Senior Sister Sona, do you know what they are?"

When Issei looked at the monsters, he felt a chill rush down his spine. From his observation, he figured that although not having any skin, the monster's body wasn't really that different from a human's one. That suggested that this monsters had most likely been human before.

Anyways, Sona nodded to Issei's question as she explained. "There's a poison in this world named Blood Poison. It is created from thousands of strange poisons, and one of the most terrifying ones out there.

"If a person swallows it, and does not acquire the cure, within one or two hours, they will lose their conscience and awareness. From that moment onwards, they would no longer die or rot, becoming zombie-like killing tools.

"After being transformed, their outer skin would be destroyed, and only the blood and muscles behind it would remain. Because of that, they are known as Blood Corpses.

"To prevent Tombs from being robbed, some martial masters would use this poison to create Blood Corpses, and have them guard the tomb. However, this amount..." Reaching that point, Sona's face revealed an expression of amazement and disgust.

After hearing Sona's description, everyone looked at the Blood Corpses, horror in their eyes. Changing humans into monsters... this method was truly ruthless and cruel. Furthermore, changing hundreds of them...

Issei nodded, finding the information useful. He glanced back at the Blood Corpses, looked at them deeply before turning around to look at Sona.

"Senior Sister Sona, do you, by chance, know their characteristics?"

Issei and his group was standing outside of the spacious hall, and although the Blood Corpses were more than able to use them, they didn't show any indication of going to attack them. However, it was apparent that the corpses in the hall was the result of the Blood Corpses' slaughter. As such, Issei was beginning to formulate an idea in his head.

"The Blood Corpses have eyes, but since they don't have awareness, they cannot see. All they possess it the desire to kill, using the their sense of smell to determine if an organism is food of if it's a fellow Blood Corpse. Other than other Blood Corpses, any being that comes near their range of smell will be immediately killed," explained Sona.

Issei nodded once more and asked, "So they use their sense of smell to distinguish between foe and ally?"

"Yes, but what of it?" Sona asked, curious.

At that moment, a slight smirk appeared on Issei's previously cold features. He then smiled at her slightly, "Well, I now have a method to pass by them."

Since the start, Issei knew that forcing his way through would be useless. With his speed, it would be able to reach the other side, but all of the other members would be unable to. Now, however, he finally found a solution.

"Junior Brother Issei? What method?" When the members of the Water Devil Alliance heard his words, all of them revealed surprised expressions. When they saw those Blood Corpses, in all of their minds, they had already given up. However, at this moment, a glimmer of hope ignited in their hearts. If Issei truly could come up with a way to bring them to the other side, then that would be that they would certainly be able to acquire treasures.

"Don't get your hopes up," Issei quickly said as he started walking forward, into the hall. "It's just an idea. I'll have to test it first."

When he finished his sentence, he had already stepped into the hall. He quickly turned around, strengthened his fingers, and dashed towards a Blood Corpse, who was at the late stages of the Nascent Profound Realm.

"Hua!"

When Issei got close to that Blood Corpse, it suddenly turned around and opened it's mouth, making a blood-curling scream. While baring his fangs, it immediately leaped from the ground, pouncing at Issei.

Issei's eyes, however, didn't show surprise as he raised his right arm, his fingers already strengthened. Immediately after, he brought it down.

*Swoosh~! *

A sword slash collided against the Blood Corpse, followed by many others. By the end, it was turned into a pile of pieces of meat. Its body parts were scattered all over the place, and the biggest part that remained was only the size of the hand.

Seeing the results of his attacks, Issei nodded with satisfaction before waving his arm, making all the pieces float to his hands. He then turned around, and started gathering around the pieces, making a pile out of them.

After that, he turned to another Blood Corpse, and also sliced it up. He repeated this a few more times, and by the time he was done, there was already a huge pile of pieces in the ground. After that, he walked to one of the corpses of the dead cultivators and took off their clothes.

Following that, he used those clothes as rope and tied the small pieces of the Blood Corpses onto his waist, legs and torso. By the end, he was completely covered in small pieces.

"Just what is Junior Brother doing? The Blood Corpses..." Sa Ji had an expression of disbelief as he looked at Issei, slightly disgusted at the scene. After all, seeing such a cute little kid covered in body pieces, using them as decoration, was unbelievably gross.

However, Sona wasn't feeling uncomfortable. She continued watching Issei with rapt attention, awaiting his next actions.

At that moment, a shocking scene took place in front of them. Issei turned around, and while covered in body pieces, ran towards the center of the hall, where most of the Blood Corpses were.

At that moment, a single though appeared in the head of all of the members of the Water Devil Alliance: "Just what is he doing?!"

 **Read & Review~!**

* * *

 **AN: Jimakos, I can now answer you question. You see, for the time being, I'll keep adding DxD characters here and there, but that will mostly be it for the DxD elements, sorry.**

 **Also, for the other readers, I must apologize for the mistakes in the last chapters. You see, Thursday, I only had a limited amount of time to write the chapter. To make make matters worse, when I had finally finished correcting the mistakes, the lights went out, erasing all my corrections. The program that I use, Libre Office, saved the document, but it was the version before I had corrected the mistakes. In the end, I still did a slight check, but I was not able to do a real, slow and concentrated search for mistakes. Either way, I have already corrected the previous mistakes on chapter 54.**


	56. Long Tian

**Info:**

 **Cultivation Realms – Elementary Profound Realm, Nascent Profound Realm, True Profound Realm, Spirit Profound Realm, Earth Profound Realm, Sky Profound Realm, Emperor Profound Realm, Tyrant Profound Realm, Sovereign Profound Realm, Saint Profound Realm and Divine Profound Realm.**

 **World Spiritist Levels – White-Cloak, Gray-Cloak, Blue-Cloak, Purple-Cloak, Gold-Cloak.**

 **Profound System Ranks - Low Ranked Profound System, Medium Ranked Profound System, High Ranked Profound System, Special Ranked Profound System, Legendary Ranked Profound System, Ultimate Ranked Profound System and Heavenly Ranked Profound System.**

* * *

 **Chapter 56 - Long Tian**

* * *

However, what happened next shocked them even more. They saw, with expressions of utmost surprise, as Issei casually ran through the ranks of blood corpses, while they completely ignored his presence, as if unable to sense his smell.

"I know!" At this moment, an expression of enlightenment ran across Sona's cold features. "He's using the scent of the Blood Corpses to conceal his human one, which allowed him to bypass the Blood Corpse's smelling sense!"

When the surrounding people heard it, they at first expressed surprise, but soon afterward, their faces became one of admiration.

"So it was like that! It's amazing how he could simply think of this method so quickly!" One of the members of the Water Devil Alliance exclaimed.

Following that, the members of the Water Devil Alliance followed Issei's method, by hacking up some Blood Corpses and gluing their pieces to them, and with that, successfully managed to go through the sea of Blood Corpse, safely reaching the other end of the hall.

After that, they continued along on their path. Going along the tunnel for around a thousand meters, a door made of stone appeared in their line of sight. Immediately after, Issei rushed up to it and pushed the door open. And, when they saw what was on the other side, their expression turned jubilant.

In front of them, a huge cave appeared. It was very wide, over 300 feet tall and it was covered in rocks. The rocks within seemed very special, seeing that they emitted a strange, greenish glow, that basked the cave in green light.

However, they were unable to touch these beautiful rocks, and had to settle for just admiring them from afar, because, currently, they were on top of steep cliff.

Going up, on the very peak of the cliff, there was a fifteen meter tall stone tablet erected from the ground. On it, there were a few rows of beautifully written words carved on it:

"In my life, I have gone through many past experiences. In the end, I have managed to acquire three legacies, two of them left behind by peerless experts and one of them by a God. These legacies are my most precious possessions

"Back in my realm, whoever wished to learn them was refused by me. Today, these three legacies are in my tomb, waiting for someone to choose them. However, they cannot be acquired by anyone. Whoever wants to obtain them will need to be strong.

"At last, remember. These three legacies can't be passed down, and you are forbidden from teaching them to anyone. Furthermore, no one most know that they are in your possession. Even in the place I come from, each of them was enough to cause empires to declare war with other just in order to acquire it, specially the one left behind by a God."

After reading the tablet, every single person preset revealed expressions of utmost shock. Three great legacies? Left behind by peerless experts and a God? Just what sort of concept was this?!

Each and every member of the Water Devil Alliance soon revealed expressions of greed, desiring with all their hearts to obtain such legacies. However, even then, they didn't dare to fathom any thoughts of acquiring it, they could only desire them. If these legacies were something so great, how could they be able to pass the requirements? At the very most, the only one that had a chance would be their Junior Brother Issei.

At the same time that everyone was contemplating that, one of the members suddenly spoke out.

"Look! There's something beneath the stone tablet!"

At the same time, that same person who just spoke up, who was Sa Ji, also ran forward, dashing towards it. The other members heard his words, and also directed their attention towards the tablet and saw that right beneath the large tablet, there was some sort of big box, like a chest. In the next moment, their happiness increased even more. There was bond to be some treasures inside!

Sa Ji, upon reaching it, rashly placed his hand on the lid and quickly opened the box. When he did so, golden light flowed out from within, basking everything in a golden color. It soon faded away, revealing what was inside. And, when Sa Ji saw it, he almost fainted on the spot.

Inside, at the very least, there were 100 Nascent Beads. 100! What kind of concept was that? That meant that each member of the Water Devil Alliance could get a dozen or so! The Spirit grass stored in their cosmos sacks, when compared to that amount of Nascent Beads, was basically some paper that should be used wipe one's ass! There was simply no comparison!

However, while the members of the Water Devil Alliance were crazily dashing towards the Nascent Beads, Issei didn't even look at it, a look of concentration on his face. He slowly walked towards the end of the cliff and looked down. The moment he did so, he couldn't help but to frown.

The cliff went a long way down, and on its side, there were several vines that followed down-wards along with it. A little further down was a thick mist, that prevented anyone from seeing what was beneath, the vines passing through it and disappearing there.

However, the reason for Issei's frown was because, within the mist, he felt dense killing intent, so dense that his couldn't even compare.

By his side, Sona had walked over, and was also looking down at the mist, a thoughtful look on her face. She then glanced at Issei, seeing him frown. Afterward, she sighed.

"Junior Brother, I'm sure that you are interested in those three legacies, but even so, it's too dangerous."

It was obvious that the only way to acquire those legacies would be to go down the mist, as there was no other exit around, except the one that they had used to enter. As such, that meant that the path that one should take was down this cliff.

Issei shook his head, and was about to say something, but at that moment, his pupils suddenly constricted and his eyes narrowed. There was someone approaching! He then turned his head to the entrance just in time to see the door being kicked open.

*Bang! *

The door was kicked so fiercely that it snapped out of it's bindings and flew out for a couple of meters. Standing at the place the door had just been were six tall and handsome males, all of them with extraordinary cultivation.

Five of them wore deep blue robes, which signalized that they were core disciples. Furthermore, the aura emanating from these five of them was equivalent to someone on the mid to late stages of the True Profound Realm. Leading that group, dressed in red, was an ethereal-looking youth. As surprising as it may seem, his cultivation was one the first level of the fourth realm, the Spirit Profound Realm!

Within that group, Issei recognized someone. Wearing deep blue robes and standing proudly at the youth in red's side, was Zhou Zhiyuan, the same core disciple that Issei clashed with not too long ago.

"Hoh? It seems that we aren't the first to arrive? What the hell are these babies doing here? Fooling around?" One of the youths in deep blue said, a surprised look on his face.

"It seems that we underestimated the cultivators that came. Apparently, we aren't the only ones who know how to pass through the Blood Corpses..."

Another one commented.

After they saw Issei and company already there, they revealed surprised expressions, but that was it. They didn't reveal fear, or were even wary. It was obvious that they didn't put the Water Devil Alliance in their eyes.

At that moment, Zhou Zhiyuan, who had an expression of utmost surprise on his face, suddenly grinned wretchedly when he caught sight of Issei. Looking at the man in red at his side, he immediately spoke up.

"Senior Brother Tian, those are the ones that disrespected me on the way here!"

"Oh?" The youth in red's eyes widen slightly, before he revealed a savage expression, "Oh, so you are the ones that tried to harm my Junior Brother!"

When the members of the Water Devil Alliance heard those words, they immediately cursed in their hearts, for they knew that they were doomed. That men in red was none other than the school's number one core disciple, Long Tian! No matter how great Issei was, the difference between them was just too big.

"That's right, it's them!" Zhou Zhiyuan said with vehemence. He then pointed at Issei with his index finger, "Especially that boy over there. He dared to go as far as to injure me!"

"Brother Zhiyuan, would you like us to punish him? We'd be glad to help you," The other youths in blue robe said, their faces becoming darker and colder. A core disciple being offended by inner disciples? What kind of bullshit was this?! They just couldn't endure the fact that their Brother had suffered such shame!

At this moment, Long Tian walked forward, his red cloak fluttering with every burst of his power, that kept coming out of him in waves, oppressing the members of the Water Devil Alliance.

"All of you, out of here. You have ten seconds to get away from this place. Anyone that stays, dies," He then looked at Issei, "As for you, stay behind."

"Long Tian!" At this moment, rage appeared in Sona's eyes. "Do you dare to kill us?! We are from the same school!"

"Same school?" Long Tian asked, a puzzled look on his eyes, "Then, why aren't you wearing your robes from the Heavenly Might School? Those who don't wear them mean that they don't see themselves as disciples from the Heavenly Might School. It's my job as the number one disciple to get rid of such people."

He then sent Sona a lascivious smile, "However, don't worry, Sona. You have no need to be afraid. How could I possibly kill you? You have no idea how long I have been waiting for this moment. I'm looking forward to how long that cold look of yours will last under the ravaging of six man, hehe…."

"You..." Hearing such words, Sona's face turned blank. His meaning was obvious; he was planning on taking her body right there and then, along with his fellow disciples! The worst part was that they truly had the strength to carry on with that!

All the other core disciple also revealed lascivious expressions upon hearing Long Tian's words, their lustful eyes traveling over Sona's slim body, as if they could already picture her under them.

At this point, Issei's eyes suddenly narrowed, as he also understood the meaning behind Long Tian's words. He took a step forward, and placed himself in front of Sona protectively, the look in his eyes, that used to be cold, suddenly turned amiable as he gazed at them.

"Brothers, don't be like that. Why don't we all calm down and talk like civilized individuals? You just want the Nascent Beads, right?"

As Issei said that, he waved his hands, and in the next moment, the chest full of Nascent Beads flew to his hands. In the next second, the mark of the Sky Poison Pearl on his hands flashed lightly, and a dark smoke entered the chest, an action that went unnoticed by all, including Long Tian. Soon after, that smoke fused with the Nascent Beads, completely dissappearing.

As if he hadn't done anything, Issei then threw the chest towards Long Tian and the other Core Disciples.

"There, you can have it."

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	57. The Slaugther Has Begun!

**Info:**

 **Cultivation Realms – Elementary Profound Realm, Nascent Profound Realm, True Profound Realm, Spirit Profound Realm, Earth Profound Realm, Sky Profound Realm, Emperor Profound Realm, Tyrant Profound Realm, Sovereign Profound Realm, Saint Profound Realm and Divine Profound Realm.**

 **World Spiritist Levels – White-Cloak, Gray-Cloak, Blue-Cloak, Purple-Cloak, Gold-Cloak.**

 **Profound System Ranks - Low Ranked Profound System, Medium Ranked Profound System, High Ranked Profound System, Special Ranked Profound System, Legendary Ranked Profound System, Ultimate Ranked Profound System and Heavenly Ranked Profound System.**

* * *

 **Chapter 57 - The Slaughter Has Begun!**

* * *

"Hoh?" Seeing the chest full of Nascent Beads that was thrown at his feet, Long Tian's eyes widened lightly. "Kid, I see that you aren't too stupid..."

He then waved his hand down, and in the next instant, all of the Nascent Beads within the chest moved a little, and, as if carried by a gentle wind, flew upwards and stayed floating in the air, right in front of him. Following that, Long Tian began to count them.

"One hundred and sixty-five, huh?" He smirked, "Not bad..."

He then directed his gaze back at Issei, and although the look on his eyes was cold, it was still softer than before. "Brat, I see that you've got a good head on your shoulders. Since you were so willing to hand us the beads just like that, then, being a nice person as I am, I'll spare your life."

"What?!"

Hearing that, Zhou Zhiyuan's eyes widened. His previous smug smile turned into a scowl as he immediately pleaded his senior brother.

"Senior Brother Tian, although this kid is acting like this, he still dared to injure me! Are you really letting him get away without any punishment?!"

However, to Zhou Zhiyuan's words, Long Tian smiled lightly, "Of course not, Zhiyuan. The fact that he dared to injure you never changes…."

He then stopped as he turned his head around to glare at Issei, a commanding look in his eyes, "You! Get over here!"

Without saying a word, Issei nodded and prepared to take his first step. However, before he could, he felt some resistance as his arm was grabbed by someone.

"Junior Brother, please don't!"

Sitri Sona pleaded him as she whispered in his ear. Alas, Issei simply shook his head and gave her a reassuring smile as he freed himself from her grasp and continued to walk forward. When he was five meters away from Long Tian, he stopped, awaiting for further instructions.

"Good," Long Tian nodded, "Now, kneel down and break all four of your limbs. That's your punishment for injuring my Junior Brother." He then seemed to think of something and then added, "Also, hand over your cosmos sack."

At that moment, Long Tian figured that since Issei's group had gotten there earlier, there was still the chance that there had been some treasures there before, but they had been stored away by them. As such, being as greedy as he was, he wasn't willing to take any chances.

"This..." Hearing Long Tian's words, Issei seemed to have a troubled expression.

"What?" Long Tian snickered. "Are you telling me that you are not willing?"

Quickly, Issei shook his head. He then said as he motioned towards the Nascent Beads floating in the air, "It's just that… I'm afraid that if you don't refine those Nascent Beads fast, they would lose their effects..."

"Hah?" Long Tian exclaimed in shock. "What are you talking about, kid?"

Issei then took a deep breath and began explaining as he pointed at the chest, "You see, that chest is made out of Evergreen Azure Wood, that is only found in the edges of the Azure Province's territory, and is also extremely rare. Furthermore, it has a special property.

"If it's used as a recipient to store cultivation resources, as time passes, it's able to increase the amount of spiritual power within the Nascent Beads, and although it doesn't increase it by much, it still helps a little. However, it has the setback that once it's opened, the accumulated spiritual power within the Nascent Beads will start to flow out, including the one originally belonging to it."

Issei then stopped and analyzed the Nascent Beads floating in the air. On all of them, it was apparent that there were some spots on them that were darkening.

"From my estimations, given the blackened spots, around ten per cent of the power within the beads has already dispersed. In an hour or so, they will lose all of their power," Issei finished, an innocent and truthful look in his face.

"What?!" Long Tian exclaimed in shock, and when he looked at the Nascent Beads, there were truly some darkened spots appearing on them. While he had never heard of Evergreen Azure Wood or Nascent Beads losing their power, it all looked and seemed convincing. Furthermore, there was no denying that the Nascent Beads were truly losing their shiny glow.

"This..." He immediately showed a face full of conflict. He had no way to know whether Issei or not was lying, but if what he said was true, then the more time he wasted, the less effective those beads would be, and he definitely couldn't afford to let that happen.

In a split second, he reached the conclusion that even if Issei was lying, so what?! Even if he were to refine those beads there and then, he could still order one of his brothers to keep a close watch on those kids. From his guesses, even if all of them worked together, they would still be unable to defeat even the weakest of his own group.

With that thought in mind, he immediately sat down in the ground, and turned around to look at his fellow members of the group.

"All of you, sit down and started refining!" He then turned his gaze towards a rugged-looking youth, "Brother Luo, I must ask you to stand on guard. When we go back to the sect, I will award you with the same amount of Nascent Beads you would be able to refine here!"

The youth named Luo nodded, a solemn look on his features. Although he would much rather refine them here, he knew that with his strength, he couldn't go against Long Tian's order. Furthermore, Long Tian wasn't a person to say empty words. If he said that he would reward him, he most likely would!

Luo then walked forward, and placed himself in front of his group and Issei's group, while all of his fellow brothers sat down to cultivate. He then turned his steel-cold gaze at Issei and said, "Boy, you may go back to your group until Brother Tian finishes refining. After that, we will talk about your punishment."

Since he knew that at this moment Long Tian was too busy to talk, he decided to say what he thought Long Tian would have said in this situation. When Long Tian, who was already refining, heard Luo's words, nodded with satisfaction.

Issei, upon seeing everyone beginning to frantically refine the beads, nodded slightly, his face revealing an innocent look while he took a step back. As he did so, he didn't forget to say a couple of words.

"Senior Brother Tian, out of consideration for me telling you about the effects of the chest, could you lighten up my punishment?"

The youth Luo turned his head back, and when he saw Long Tian nod, he glanced back at Issei, "He will do so."

Issei then nodded, a grateful look on his face as he clasped his hands and bowed, "Many thanks for Senior Brother Tian."

After that, he respectfully stepped back and walked back to where Sona was standing with a concerned look on her face. When she saw him approach, she stood there, waiting for him to reach her. After he did so, she whispered in his ear.

"Good job back there, Junior Brother. At the very least, you won't be getting a rash punishment."

Issei, however, simply smiled, a knowing look on his face as he gazed at Long Tian and his group as they refined the beads.

Sona, who was looking at Issei, upon noticing his smile, couldn't help but to ask, "What's wrong, Junior Brother Issei?"

"Oh? Nothing, nothing," Issei replied nonchalantly.

"I see..." Sona nodded slightly, understanding that Issei had no plans on elaborating. At that moment, she also though of something, and couldn't help but to become curious.

"Since when was there such a thing as Evergreen Azure Wood in the Azure Province? Wait, never mind in the Azure Province, I haven't even heard of such a type of wood, and I was brought up in a wealthy family," Sona though, a look of confusion on her face, "Furthermore, I have never seen the effects of a bead losing their spiritual power, as that is exceedingly rare… I wonder how Junior Brother Issei knows of such things..."

When she though that far, her curiosity reached its limit, and she couldn't hold it back any longer, so she spoke her thoughts. "Junior Brother Issei, just what is this Evergreen Azure Wood?"

Issei, however, revealed a nonchalant expression as he shrugged his shoulder while whispering back to her in a voice that only she could hear, "No idea."

"Huh?" Sona opened her mouth in surprise. "How come you don't know?"

"Well," Issei whispered back, "I just came up with that on the spot. I don't even know if it exists..."

"You…." Sona's eyes widened, as she had to hold herself back from screaming out loud in surprise, "Then you mean that the words that you said are..."

"All lies," Issei finished her sentence, an innocent-looking smile on his face.

Sona's eyes widened even further. She was a smart girl, but even she couldn't compute such a strong turn of events, "T-then, why..."

However, before she could finish her question, one of the disciples of Long Tian's group suddenly coughed slightly. Followed by that, he started coughing even more, each cough being stronger than the other.

When Issei, who was paying close attention, noticed the first cough, his smile widened as he said, "Senior Sister, I must excuse myself for the time being. I'll be right back."

Following that, he waved his hands, Gan Jiang and Mo Ye appearing on them in the next second. He then sprinted forward, arriving at the place where that youth named Luo was standing at in a blink of an eye.

Luo, who had his head turned back towards his brother that was coughing, didn't notice Issei's approach. When he finally took notice of it, it was already too late.

*Swoosh~ *

A light sound of something being sliced apart filled the air as Gang Jiang and Mo Ye slashed at Luo's neck at the same time. A second later, blood gushed out of the severed neck like a fountain as the head fell to the ground.

"One down," Issei muttered as he searched for his next prey. At that moment, all of the youths had already stopped refining the beads, and when they saw Issei kill Luo, they immediately stood up, getting on guard.

"You damn-" Long Tian was about to say, but suddenly stopped as he noticed something. With widened eyes, he discovered with bewilderment and horror that his cultivation base was no longer at the first level of the Spirit Profound Realm. Now, he was only in the fourth level of the True Profound Realm! His cultivation base had been suppressed by seven levels!

"What did you do?!" He immediately screamed in rage as he glared at Issei. If looks could kill, Issei would have already died many times over.

"Me?" Issei smiled lightly as he waved his swords down slightly, causing the blood that covered it to spill in the ground, completely cleansing the blades. "Nothing much..."

In the next moment, he dashed forward, and in less than a second, Zhou Zhiyuan's head also fell to the ground. His cultivation base had also been suppressed, and he was now only on the sixth level of the Nascent Profound Realm. Just like with Long Tian, his cultivation base had been suppressed by seven levels. To Issei, the amount of effort needed to kill the current him was no more than what he would spend to kill a fly.

Before Zhou Zhiyuan's head could even start rolling in the ground, the head of another core disciple also got separated from the neck!

The slaughter has begun!

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	58. To Strike It Rich

**Info:**

 **Cultivation Realms – Elementary Profound Realm, Nascent Profound Realm, True Profound Realm, Spirit Profound Realm, Earth Profound Realm, Sky Profound Realm, Emperor Profound Realm, Tyrant Profound Realm, Sovereign Profound Realm, Saint Profound Realm and Divine Profound Realm.**

 **World Spiritist Levels – White-Cloak, Gray-Cloak, Blue-Cloak, Purple-Cloak, Gold-Cloak.**

 **Profound System Ranks - Low Ranked Profound System, Medium Ranked Profound System, High Ranked Profound System, Special Ranked Profound System, Legendary Ranked Profound System, Ultimate Ranked Profound System and Heavenly Ranked Profound System.**

* * *

 **Chapter 58 - To Strike It Rich**

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"You!" Long Tian exclaimed in anger as he saw the heads of his fellow Brothers falling to the ground in one after another, but he could do nothing about it, as his cultivation base was sealed. No matter how much anger surged in his heart in his heart, all he could do was to watch, as little by little, Issei approached him, leaving behind a deadly trail of bloodstains.

At that moment, Issei slashed against the last remaining core disciple aside from Long Tian, his body being bisected, with his torso falling to the ground and the lower parts falling in the opposite direction, blood spraying everywhere.

His original azure clothes were now of a deep red color, both of his swords covered in red. The only part of him that seemed unstained was his face, that had kept the same cold expression from the beginning all the way until the end.

Not even glancing at the severed corpse of the core disciple, Issei took a step forward towards Long Tian. Immediately, the man known as the Heavenly Might School's strongest core disciple took a step back, terror and wrath evident in his eyes. He then pointed his shaking index finger towards Issei.

"You! Don't you dare to kill me!" Saying that, he slapped his cosmos sack, and in the next moment, a small medallion appeared in his hands. Looking at it, Long Tian's face that was originally fear-struck eased up a little.

He then looked towards Issei and exclaimed, "If you kill me, this medallion will immediately transmit it back to the school the appearance of the one killed me! If you dare to kill the number one core disciple, you'll become the school's biggest enemy!"

At this moment, Issei suddenly stopped dead in his tracks, a frozen look in his face as he glared at the medallion unblinkingly. Seeing that, the already relieved expression on Long Tian's face brightened even further, thinking that he had managed to save himself.

However, the words that Issei said next left him completely bewildered.

"Oh? How convenient..." a smirk broke out in Issei's face as he once more took a step forward. Even more so, this time it seemed as if he was even more eager to take Long Tian's life!

"What?!" Long Tian's eyes widened as his brain couldn't understand what had just happened. That medallion was supposed to act as deterrence, and scare the crap out of that kid, but it seemed as if it had the opposite effect! Just what was happening?! Did this child not fear the wrath of the Heavenly Might School?!

However, before Long Tian could even open his mouth once more, Issei's figure in front of him suddenly flickered, completely disappearing. In the next moment, Long Tian felt something cold and sharp pressing against his throat.

From behind him, a cold voice that send chills down his spine spoke out, "Any last words?"

"W-why….?" Was the only thing that the once proud cultivator could mutter. His mind, spirit and soul suddenly broke at that very moment, as he realized that death was inevitable.

"Why?" Issei asked, a calm smile on his face as he pressed Gan Jiang even further on Long Tian's neck, drawing a bit of blood. "Because… to me, you are more worth dead than alive."

"Wh-" Before Long Tian could even utter a single word, Gan Jiang pierced through his skin, windpipe and bones, completely severing the connection that the head had with the neck. Not even a second later, the head slowly fell to the ground, before rolling around a little, ending up near the heads of the other core disciples.

With a cold look on his face, Issei released his grasp on Long Tian's body, letting it fall to the ground with soft thud. Issei then waved his hands, causing six little brown pouches to appear in his hands. Without a doubt, those were the cosmos sacks that belonged to the six disciples that he had just killed. Well, used to belong.

Not even bothering to look inside the cosmos sacks, he instantly stored them inside the inner space of the Sky Poison Pearl. He waved his hands once more, and all of the remaining Nascent Beads floating in the air flew to his hands. From the original one hundred and sixty-five, only one hundred and twenty remained…

With a small smile, he snapped his fingers. The Nascent Beads then flickered as they disappeared, being transported to the inner world of his Sky Poison Pearl.

Now that he had finished taking care of his tasks, Issei finally turned around and walked towards the members of the Water Devil Alliance, who were standing there, mouths agape, expressions of bewilderment and disbelief all over their faces.

Seeing those looks, Issei looked up and asked innocently, "What?"

When everyone saw the innocent look on Issei's face, coupled with his bloodied garments, blades, and the corpses that piled behind him, they all felt a chill run down their spines, similar to the one Long Tian had felt a few moments before his death. At this moment, they finally reached the conclusion that their Junior Brother wasn't a human… to kill so many people, and still keep an oblivious and innocent face… he could only be a monster! A deadly, heartless, monster!

However, at that time, there was one particular member of the Water Devil Alliance that was rejoicing yet worrying at the same time. That member was none other than the leader of the Alliance, Sitri Sona. Not caring about the fact that Issei was completely covered in blood, she quickly rushed to him.

"Junior Brother!" She exclaimed, as she didn't even know with what question she should begin with. The amount of questions she wanted to make were so much that it completely clouded her mind, making her unable to think straight.

"Oh? What is it, Senior Sister?" Issei peacefully asked his flicked his hands a little, Gan Jiang and Mo Ye going back to tattoo form. He then sent his spiritual power around his body, making all of the blood that was glued to his clothes to slowly separate, before falling to the ground. In the time-span of a couple of seconds, it didn't matter if it were his clothes or skin, everything was completely unblemished, without so much as a single drop of blood.

Seeing that scene, Sona's eyes widened lightly, before she forced herself to calm down. She then organized her thoughts and only after that, she said, "Junior Brother… before anything, regarding that medallion, I believe that Long Tian wasn't bluffing."

Obviously, her questions were important, but alas, it was much more important to inform her Junior Brother of what he had just done. She knew that he wouldn't be let off with a small punishment if he were to come back to the school. At the moment, she was already considering whether or not she should ask him to leave the Heavenly Might School….

However, contrary to her expectations, Issei simply nodded.

"I know that he was telling the truth."

Sona's eyes widened, "Then, why…?"

"I killed him with a single objective in mind," Issei explained, "And that is to become the number one disciple in the school."

Hearing his words, never mind Sona, but everyone was flabbergasted. What did he just say?! Becoming the number one disciple?!

"Junior Brother, this..." Sona began, but was cut off by Issei's sigh.

Issei then sat down and motioned for her to do the same. After she did so, he opened his mouth and began explaining the situation.

"Senior Sister, before we left to come to this tomb, I had a meeting with the Heavenly Might School's headmaster."

Seeing that Sona was about to say something, Issei quickly continued.

"He told me that in terms of potential, I was superior to Long Tian, and he felt that it would be better to make me the number one disciple. However, he knew that Long Tian wouldn't accept it, and would probably try to kill me. Furthermore, he couldn't involve with Long Tian directly, as the Long family is quite strong.

"So, he told me that if I were to kill Long Tian in the trip to the dungeon, then when I came back, I would be made the number one disciple. Not only that, because he died in the dungeon with no witnesses, the Long family wouldn't be able to seek revenge. Better yet, they wouldn't know who killed their precious son."

At that moment, Sona understood that Issei, from the very beginning, knew what he was doing. However, even though she understood it, she didn't dare to believe it. As such, she couldn't help but to ask, "So, from the very beginning, you..."

Issei nodded, his innocent smile fading, replaced by his usual cold visage, "Everything was planned."

When Issei said those words, he meant it. In fact, the moment Zhou Zhiyuan first tried to make a move on Sona was the moment when his plan sprung into action.

He had obviously researched a little on Long Tian, and knew that Zhou Zhiyuan was his friend. When he recognized him, he quickly came up with his entire plan in that single moment.

He knew that inside the tomb, sooner or later, he would meet with Long Tian's group. However, if that happened, then the one handling everything would be Sona, as they wouldn't even bother with a delicate-looking kid like him. In that situation, it would be difficult to attract attention to himself.

However, with Zhou Zhiyuan's appearance, he solved his first problem. He figured that as long as he could cause some enmity to spark between him and Zhiyuan, the moment their groups clashed within the tomb, Issei would undoubtedly be thrown in the spotlight, which was exactly was he was looking for.

As planned, within the tomb, he met with Long Tian's group, and he couldn't have hoped for a place better than this steep cliff, in which only the two groups were present. In this situation, it was easy for Issei to hog all the attention to himself and manipulate the direction of the conversation.

So, with an innocent-looking smile, he offered them the Nascent Beads, which, in their eyes, would seem as an act of pleading for his life. While he did so, he didn't forget to add some poison from his Sky Poison Pearl, the Seven Heavens Poison.

In his stay in the Heavenly Might School, he had been constantly looking for poison recipes in order to use them with his Sky Poison Pearl. Like it was mentioned before, as long as he knew the breeding process of the poison and the effects clearly, even if he didn't have the materials, the Sky Poison Pearl could replicate it without a problem. Furthermore, as long as the target wasn't over three realms above him, it was guaranteed to be effective. (See chapter 12)

While searching for a poison, he realized that in the Azure Province, poison breeding methods were scarce, and there was almost none that was effective against cultivators. It was only ofter countless efforts that he managed to find the Seven Heavens Poison, which temporarily reduced a person's cultivation base by seven levels. In reality, he wanted a lethal, sure-kill poison, but didn't managed to find any. In the end, he had to settle for the Seven Heavens Poison.

Anyhow, while using the Sky Poison Pearl, he managed to create the Seven Heavens Poison, and had it infiltrate all of the Nascent Beads. One of the effects of the poison was that it would darken the surface of whatever it was sealed in, which caused the black spots to appear in the beads, and also their loss of shine.

After that, it wasn't too hard to create a believable story on the spot. And, in order to make sure that Long Tian and his group immediately refined the beads, he made them believe that the darkened spots caused by the poison were actually the beads losing their powers. In reality, their power was still intact.

Following that, Issei walked back, and when he noticed the first cough, he immediately sprung into action, as he knew that coughing was one of the side-effects of the poison. With their cultivation sealed, the members of the Long Tian group were simply cattle waiting to be slaughtered by him.

In the end, just like that, Issei not only managed to kill Zhou Zhiyuan and Long Tian, but also got himself the position of the number one core disciple, all of their cosmos sack that were bound to be filled with treasures, and over one hundred and twenty Nascent Beads that were filled to the brim with power and ready to use, as the poison within them was completely ineffective against him, for he had the Sky Poison Pearl, which counteracted all and every poison in existence.

Thinking of everything that he had done, the corner of Issei's lips curled upwards as he knew that this time, he had struck it rich!

 **Read & Review**


	59. Two Old Men

**Info:**

 **Cultivation Realms – Elementary Profound Realm, Nascent Profound Realm, True Profound Realm, Spirit Profound Realm, Earth Profound Realm, Sky Profound Realm, Emperor Profound Realm, Tyrant Profound Realm, Sovereign Profound Realm, Saint Profound Realm and Divine Profound Realm.**

 **World Spiritist Levels – White-Cloak, Gray-Cloak, Blue-Cloak, Purple-Cloak, Gold-Cloak.**

 **Profound System Ranks - Low Ranked Profound System, Medium Ranked Profound System, High Ranked Profound System, Special Ranked Profound System, Legendary Ranked Profound System, Ultimate Ranked Profound System and Heavenly Ranked Profound System.**

* * *

 **Chapter 59 - Two Old Men**

* * *

After a while of talking, the Water Devil Alliance finally decided to head back, as there was nothing holding them there anymore. Furthermore, since they now knew that Issei was only one shy step away from becoming the school's number one disciple, they were in a hurry to get back.

And, as the group passed through the stone door, Issei, who was in the back, suddenly stopped, and instead of passing though the door, forcefully closed it, leaving him behind, while all of the members of the Water Devil Alliance were on the other side.

Immediately after Sona heard the sound of the door closing, her eyes widened and she instantly turned around, only to see the closed doors. At that moment, she suddenly thought of something.

(Guys, I posted a chapter yesterday. If you're not sure whether you read it or not, please go back and check. It explains why Issei killed Long Tian, how long he had been planning and some other stuff.)

She then jumped forward and tried to open the door with all her might, but no matter how much she tried, it wouldn't budge. After a while, she finally cried out.

"Junior Brother, don't!"

Obviously, she knew what Issei was planning. His objective was, without a doubt, to delve deeper into the tomb and get himself the skills left behind by the expert. If Sona couldn't figure that out, then all of her years cultivating would have been for naught.

"Wait for me in the Ling City. Afterward, I'll head back there and search for you so we can head back together."

However, even then, what came from the other side was Issei's calm voice.

Followed by that, the members of the Water Devil Alliance could clearly hear the sounds of footsteps getting further and further away, until they heard nothing anymore. In the end, Sona could only sigh as she understood that from this moment on, Issei's fate laid in his own hands.

She then turned around and faced the members of her group. Taking in a deep breath, she started giving out orders.

"For now, we will head back to the Ling City and wait for Junior Brother. After he comes back, we will head back to the school."

Following that, she walked away, a resolute look on her features as she hiddenly prayed that Issei would be able to come out safe and sound.

Back with the little genius, he was currently standing in the edge of the cliff, staring down into the dense fog that obscured his field of vision.

He then nodded, and smiled lightly.

"If one does not risk his life, it's impossible to progress on their path of cultivation. To cultivate is to always gamble your life. As they say, the bigger the risk the bigger the reward..."

After that, Issei's face turned resolute as he grabbed onto the thick vines, and started his descent. Immediately after he got away from the cliff and closer to the mist, the smell of dry blood reached his nose in waves.

Shaking his head lightly, Issei continued to climb down into the mist, and, in a time-span of a couple of seconds, his body was already completely immersed within the mist. Because of how thick the mist was, his field of vision was severely restricted, making him unable to see past ten meters in all directions.

Luckily, he didn't meet with any troubles on the way, and sooner than he thought, he felt his feet touch a hard surface. He had finally reached the bottom!

Letting go of the vines, Issei stabilized his body on the ground and looked around. Although the mist was still there, the feeling he got wasn't as terrifying as before, as this time he could finally step in solid ground.

After looking around a little, he didn't move forward, but instead pulled something out of the Sky Poison Pearl. In the next moment, a medium-sized purple compass appeared in his hands.

*Whoosh~ *

After channeling his spiritual power into it through the use of the Burning Heaven Compass martial skill, the letters on top of it flowed out from it, floating in the air. Instantly, it started emitting rays of light in all directions, and his vision range increased by several times. The fog, which seemed so menacing and thick, could do nothing against the rays as they penetrated deep with it, lighting up his surroundings.

Looking down at the Spirit Compass, Issei quickly saw which way he needed to go, which was indicated by the Good Luck mark. At the same time, he could see the Bad Luck mark along with the Death mark shining brightly, meaning that he was surrounded by dangers in all directions.

"Hoh? This place… if I didn't have this Spirit Compass, then even if I had an endless number of lives, I would still die every time…"

Issei sighed as he began walking, closely following the Good Luck mark, and making sure to not step on the paths with the Bad Luck and Death signs. He couldn't even imagine what would happen if he did so…

As he walked, he started to faintly hear the sounds of growling of Profound Beast originating from not too far away from him. Not only that, there were also many cries all around him. Some simply cried, while other pleaded for life.

However, no matter how much curious Issei was, he didn't even look away from his path and continued straight ahead, because he could see that in the directions those sounds were coming from were where Death and Bad Luck shined the brightest.

Further along the way, the sounds kept getting louder and louder. The deeper he went, the louder they got. By the time he had already been walking for a couple of minutes, his pupils suddenly constricted as he took a step back.

The moment he did so, a shadow flashed by, falling in the place where he had just been. It was the torso of a man, with blood still coming from the wounds. The other half of his body was non-existent, and what replaced it was a huge, bite mark.

With a stoic face, Issei jumped over the corpse, and continued on his travel. That wasn't the first time that such a thing had happened to him along the way. In fact, it was already the tenth time in the past twenty minutes…

Luckily, after walking for two more hours, even though he was still stopped a not so small number of times by pieces of corpses and remains of Profound Beasts that were randomly thrown his way, he didn't meet with any danger. Also, at this time, he could feel the mist around him thinning. After walking a bit more, it completely disappeared.

"Finally…"

Issei sighed as he jumped out of the mist. In the entire time he had stayed inside, he had kept his wariness at its peak, which would enable him to react to any situation. This, however, seriously drained his mental energy. Now that he could finally calm down a little, he sighed with relief.

"This… how big is this?!"

However, when Issei raised his head, he couldn't help crying out in dismay. After walking through that mist, he had been expecting that he had finally reached the end, and was now in the treasure room, but that was far from the truth. In front of his eyes, what awaited him was… yet another tunnel.

In the end, though,, this tunnel had good illumination, and was relatively bright, which made Issei feel a little better. However, after a couple more meters, the smell of blood once more rushed into his nose. This time it was even more intense than the last time.

He instantly looked down to his compass, and only after seeing that this road didn't show any danger signs, did his expression loosen up. Still, because of the smell, he kept his guard up. As they say, better be safe than sorry, right?

When he finally reached the end, which took about one quarter of an hour, he saw that what awaited him was a hall with… More tunnels!

There were several tunnels in the hall, and the amount of tunnels was the same as the amount of tunnels back in the entrance of the tomb. That could only mean that, no matter which tunnel you chose at the beginning, as long as you could pass through the ocean of mist, at the end, all destinations would lead to his place. From his guesses, there were probably many more ocean of mists down there, one for each tunnel.

However, if all tunnels lead here, than this place truly had something that was bound to be interesting. And, just as he though, in the middle of the hall, there was a wooden ladder. The ladder kept going upwards, so high that even Issei couldn't see the end of it. Obviously, this was the road that he was supposed to take.

However, aside from that, there was another characteristic in the hall worthy of note. Piling up in the area around him, just like mountains, were corpses from all kinds of different powers. And, the vast majority of them belonged to the Thousand Thunder School.

And, something that was certainly strange was the fact that there wasn't even a single one that belonged to the Heavenly Might School. How strange indeed…

Furthermore, this copses didn't look like they died in a simple battle, but instead, it was as if something huge had happened, as their appearances were quite wretched.

Even though the scene in front of Issei could arouse fear in the hearts of any, he still didn't think too much into it. As long as he had the Spirit Compass, then he would have nothing to fear! As such, he casually stepped over the corpses and made his way towards the ladder.

After he started climbing, before he could even reach the top, the sound of two people arguing reached his ears. And, in the moment he understood what they were talking about, a smile broke out on Issei's lips.

After finally climbing up the ladder, one would reach a room. In the middle of it, two people were standing. The one closest to the stairs was an old men who had white hair, but, at the same time, a face full of energy. Around him was the overbearing pressure of someone at the peak of the Earth Profound Realm!

The person that stood opposite him was an equally old man who wore a white cloak and a mantle, which only revealed his his eagle-like eyes. Around the man was the aura of someone half-step into the Sky Profound Realm.

However, at that instant, the two experts weren't moving at all, and simply stood where they were, a strained look on their faces. Their hands were raised up and beads of sweet fell down their temples, all of them struggling to keep standing. That was because, above them, the roof of the room was currently falling.

The roof seemed to be made of gold, but at the same time, it emitted a cold air. Not only that, but it was also extremely heavy, and if the two of them were not supporting it with all their might, they would certainly be crushed into meat pulps.

"Not bad, old man. You really are worthy of your title of headmaster of the Thousand Thunder School. I'm surprised you have managed to keep holding the roof for this long..." The old man in white clothes smiled lightly as he spoke in a teasing tone.

"You damnable bastard. Just Who are you?! To dare to use the lives of over a hundred of my Thousand Thunder School disciple to break the formation!" The headmaster of the Thousand Wind School was filled with anger. When he recalled the scene that happened not too long ago, he felt his face burning up in anger. t\

"Does it really matter who I am? The important thing is that you and me need to work together and find a way to break this ceiling open, or else, since this is already a tomb, we might as well just die here." The white-cloaked man spoke out again.

"You still dare to plead me to help you?! Dream on!" The head of the Thousand Wind School coldly snorted. He didn't trust the mysterious, cruel and cold-blooded person that stood in front of him at all.

The old man in white clothes sighed. "I'm sure that you also came here for the treasures. If so, then there's no need to simply throw your life away just like that. Right now, the three techniques are right before your eyes..."

As the old man spoke, he cast his eyes towards the center of the room. Erected from the ground, standing proudly, was a jade stand. On top of it, there was a crystal-like, round, black, object floating in mid-air..

The old man in white clothes then continued, "There's a total of three techniques, right? How about both of us gets one? That would be fair, right?"

 **Read & Review~!**


	60. Jin Mo

**A/N: Guys, sorry, I wasn't able to publish much this weekened because of some various happenings. However, I can guarantee you two chapters tomorrow, two chapters Thursday (Maybe), two Friday (Probable), two Saturday ( Almost Certain) and two Sunday (Certain) in order to make it up.**

 **Info:**

 **Cultivation Realms – Elementary Profound Realm, Nascent Profound Realm, True Profound Realm, Spirit Profound Realm, Earth Profound Realm, Sky Profound Realm, Emperor Profound Realm, Tyrant Profound Realm, Sovereign Profound Realm, Saint Profound Realm and Divine Profound Realm.**

 **World Spiritist Levels – White-Cloak, Gray-Cloak, Blue-Cloak, Purple-Cloak, Gold-Cloak.**

 **Profound System Ranks - Low Ranked Profound System, Medium Ranked Profound System, High Ranked Profound System, Special Ranked Profound System, Legendary Ranked Profound System, Ultimate Ranked Profound System and Heavenly Ranked Profound System.**

* * *

 **Chapter 60 - Jin Mo**

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"Do you believe me to be an idiot?!" The Head of the Thousand Thunder School roared in anger. "You went as far as to spread the news of the tomb and bring me here. After that, you used my disciples to break the killing formation!

"How would you, who uses such ruthless methods, be so kind as to hand me one of the techniques?!" He roared once more, not believing the other old man in the least.

However, before the old man in white could answer, another voice rang out.

"Seniors, please, there's no need to fight."

When the two old man heard that voice, their faces morphed into expressions of utter shock. The never, in their entire lives, would have thought that someone else would be able to arrive in this room!

While they gazed at him with astonishment, Issei casually leaped off the stairs and landed on the firm ground, a bashful yet kind smile on his face.

"Why don't I get the techniques for you two?" said Issei as he started walking towards the jade pedestal.

The moment the two seniors saw Issei's young figure, that couldn't be older than eleven, their faces grew even shocked. For someone this young to reach this far.. just what kind of concept was this?!

Even while they looked at him with shocked expressions, Issei was quickly approaching the pedestal, as if casually strolling around in a park. He knew clearly that if he was to just run up there with all his speed, given the level of cultivation of these two old monster, he would have no chance of survival. At the same time, if he casually strolled around, and managed to shock the two old men to the point that they wouldn't be able to think straight, then he would definitely have a chance!

However, just as he was about to come close to the pedestal, his luck ran out as the old man in white broke from his stupor.

"You brat! Stop right there! You're only in the trifling sixth level of the Nascent Profound Realm! How did you actually get this far?!" The old man in white roared. At this moment, he also caught sight of the Spirit Compass in Issei's hands.

"You..." His eyes widened in disbelief. "You are also a World Spiritist?!"

Also? When Issei heard those words, his eyes narrowed as he turned around to gaze at the old man. From his words, this most likely mean that he had some attainments in World Spirit Techniques!

However, Issei was only slightly surprised, as he instantly resumed his walk, hoping that the two old man would forget to stop him.

But, just at that time, the head of the Thousand Thunder School spoke out.

"Sixth level of the Nascent Realm?!" He exclaimed in shock. To a person like him, on the tenth level of the Earth Profound Realm, he considered people below the middle-stages of the Earth Profound Realm as ordinary and the ones in the True Profound Realm as trash. To him, Issei, who was in the Nascent Profound Realm, was worth less than trash! And, at that moment, someone who he considered as lower than trash actually arrived in such a place that he had so much difficulty to get at!

Issei, however, kept quiet, as he hastened his pace, starting to sprint towards the jade pedestal. He already knew that his initial plan to render them silly from shock had failed, so all he could bet on was on getting to the pedestal in time.

However, at that moment, his worst fears came true.

"Die!" Seeing Issei approaching the jade pedestal, the head of the Thousand Thunder school roared in anger. With a single thought, he lead his spiritual power to the place where Issei was, completely engulfing the space around him.

"Damn!" Issei cursed as he felt the boundless pressure descend upon his entire body. This was the pressure of someone of over two and half realms higher than him! How could he possibly withstand it?!

At the same time, however, there was a humongous difference between this pressure and the pressure that the insane beggar let off. The insane beggar's power almost made Issei's body explode, while this pressure, although strong, wasn't capable of killing him!

Taking in a deep breath, Issei took a step forward. As soon as he did so, he felt his bones cackle, as the pressure kept getting bigger. Even then, Issei moved forward another step, not willing to give up. Solely by relying on his mental strength, he endured the pressure! Although it was extremely hard, painful and exhausting, he kept moving!

This was the conviction of someone who desired for treasures! An unbreakable and unbendable will that would not stop, not even in death. He would keep moving forward, until he acquired what he desired!

"Such strong determination..." Looking at the unbelievable scene unfolding in front of his eyes, even the old man in white couldn't help but to exclaim in surprise.

At this moment, the head of the Thousand Thunder School noticed that his pressure alone wasn't enough to stop this kid, so he instantly glared at the other old man. "You old bastard, help me here! Or else, this kind will acquire our skills!"

"Ah, no, I'm fine here." The old man in white simply eye-smiled and replied offhandedly.

"You bastard!" Hearing such words, The Thousand Thunder School's head got even further enraged, "See if I don't shred your body into thousands of pieces later!"

Grinding his teeth, the head of the Thousand Thunder School increased the pressure on Issei even more, but it was useless, as Issei's thirst for treasure was just too strong. Under this pressure, that even experts of the True Profound Realm feared, Issei kept walking forward, no matter how painful and challenging it was!

Seeing that scene, the man in white laughed while glaring at the head of the Thousand Thunder School, "Give it up, old fellow. His will is simply unbreakable. From here, I can see the determination is his eyes. Even if your pressure was a thousand times stronger, he would still move on."

While he said so, his eyes narrowed as he concentrated on Issei, paying attention to ever fluctuation in his hardened expression.

A couple of minutes later, Issei finally arrived at the feet of the jade pedestal that held the crystal-like round object. Issei then clenched his teeth as his eyes shined with determination, and leaped forward, grabbing the ball.

In the next moment, a blinding white light filled the place, and when it finally died down, Issei was no longer there!

Looking at the scene, rage appeared on the face of the head of the Thousand Thunder School. "See what you have done! Now this brat got teleported to another place, where he will acquire the technique!"

The old man in white, however, simply sneered, "Do you think that getting the technique is that easy? Firstly, one must have the latent talent and be accepted by the technique itself!"

Saying that, he suddenly smiled wickedly, "Well, even if he managed to get the three techniques, it wouldn't matter much. These kinds of skills are the ones that when the user dies, they would float out of the user's body and await for another master!"

Hearing such words, enlightenment shone in the eyes of the head of the Thousand Thunder School, "Then, you mean that if he does have the qualifications, after he comes out, all we have to do is to ambush him and we would get the technique?!"

"Exactly..."

Getting his confirmation, the head of the Thousand Thunder School sighed, "I knew that you wouldn't easily let others get this technique, but even if I knew that you were cruel, I never would have thought that you would be cruel enough to come up with this."

The old man in white smiled lightly, "Oh, you flatter me..." He then laughed a little, "Now, all we have to do is to wait for him to come back..."

The head of the Thousand Thunder School nodded, and following that, his attention went back to the ceiling as he started to concentrate his power into keeping it stable.

..

…

….

When Issei touched the black orb, as mentioned previously, light flashed all around him as he was teleported to another place. When he regained his consciousness, he was in a dark room, and in front of him were three jade pedestals. On top of each one, floating in air, was a small jade slip.

Issei's eyes widened as he realized that he had been transported to another area. Still, he didn't mind it much as his eyes were currently glued onto the three jade slips. Those were, without a doubt, the three Martial Skills!

Unable to contain his excitement, he took a step forward, but the moment he did so, he was forced to halt, as in front of him, a phantom image appeared out of thin air.

This phantom image was of an old man, that was most likely on his last days. His hair was long and unruly, reaching his feet, while his long, white beard, reached his waist. His back was also hunched, a wizened and profound look in his eyes.

The old man's eyes were locked onto Issei, and were deep and profound. When Issei gazed into them, he felt like his body was laid bare. From a single look, Issei felt that whatever secrets he held in his body would be discovered by this old man in an instant!

Taking a step back, Issei bowed politely, adopting a respectful expression, "May this Junior ask Senior's name?"

"Ho ho..." The old man laughed, but his laugh was hoarse and stiff, "Raise your head, young one."

Issei quickly followed the old man's order, and raised his head. Seeing that, the old man continued.

"You asked me for my name, right? You can me Jin Mo."

Issei nodded as he politely said, "Junior Issei greets Senior Mo!"

Although Issei was normally slightly haughty, and wouldn't bow easily, he knew that in front of this man, he must show utmost respect. There were many reasons. Firstly, he could clearly feel that with a single thought on his part, his life would be erased. Secondly, this old man was most likely the spirit of the owner of this tomb! If he wanted to acquire the treasures within, how could he dare to be disrespectful?!

 **Read & Review~!**

 **A/N: Reply to Why.**

 **Why-san, as I mentioned previously, this story is in fact a fanfiction of those Chinese novels that I previously mentioned, with some DxD characters here and there. That was already mentioned in my previous author notes.**

 **As for this being a copy, in this part, I must say that in the current part of the story, it really seems like a copy, but it's only for the time being. I believe that you must have read either Martial God Asura or Against The Gods (Chinese)?**

 **If yes, then you must know of some of the plot and the relationships between the characters. It's on that point that the story will truly shine, as I will completely change the relationships. Furthermore, I can assure you that this is no copy.**

 **In all of Chinese novels, there is a certain pattern. The Main Character always, I mean ALWAYS, acts before he thinks. He doesn't think things through, and keeps getting enemies left and right. Furthermore, on many stories, although it's mentioned that the MC's are smart, they almost always force their way through with strength, their intelligence being only for show.**

 **In mine, however, Issei will actually put his mind to good use, and will plan before he does things, and will not keep offending everyone that he comes across.**

 **Well, there will be more differences, but if I said them, then it would be spoilers, but please bare in my mind that further on, this story is guaranteed to get better. After all, we are only in the beginning of the beginning. There's still much, much more to come...**


	61. Change In Treatment

**Info:**

 **Cultivation Realms – Elementary Profound Realm, Nascent Profound Realm, True Profound Realm, Spirit Profound Realm, Earth Profound Realm, Sky Profound Realm, Emperor Profound Realm, Tyrant Profound Realm, Sovereign Profound Realm, Saint Profound Realm and Divine Profound Realm.**

 **World Spiritist Levels – White-Cloak, Gray-Cloak, Blue-Cloak, Purple-Cloak, Gold-Cloak.**

 **Profound System Ranks - Low Ranked Profound System, Medium Ranked Profound System, High Ranked Profound System, Special Ranked Profound System, Legendary Ranked Profound System, Ultimate Ranked Profound System and Heavenly Ranked Profound System.**

 **A/N: I'm holding a poll in my profile regarding the way that I'll update this story. Please, vote if you have the time.**

* * *

 **Chapter 61 - Change In Treatment**

* * *

"Junior these days are so respectful..." Jin Mo sighed, a distance look in his eyes. Soon after, he shook his head, getting back to the present situation. "So, Issei, is it? Well, you must be here to acquire my legacy, right?"

"Yes, this is indeed so." Issei nodded.

"Well, well..." Jin Mo smiled lightly. "As I mentioned before, back in the pedestal, there are certain requirements..."

As he said that, his gaze turned serious, "You see, this requirements aren't of your actual strength, but of your future prospects. In other words, your talent."

"If it was before, I could look into your body with a single thought, but since what I currently am is a mere sliver of my past consciousness, I need your permission to look into you. Would you mind?"

Issei quickly shook his head, as he understood that right now, Jin Mo was about to use his spiritual power to search into his body, but since he was in a rather bad state, he needed to have his assess his talent.

"Do whatever is needed, Senior Mo."

"Alright," Jin Mo laughed lightly, "It will be only a few seconds." As he said that, he took a step forward, and as if time and space had bended, with a single step, he appeared right in front of him. Before Issei could have the chance to be surprised, Jin Mo's index finger had already come into contact with his forehead.

At that moment, a blinding white light shone forth as Jin Mo closed his eyes, immersing his consciousness, through the use of his spiritual power, into Issei's body. This process only lasted a couple of moments, and while it happened, Jin Mo's wizened and ancient expression revealed various changes.

Firstly, it showed surprise. Soon after, amazement, followed by bewilderment. Then, it went as far as to become an expression of respect. On the very end, however, his expression morphed into one of extreme fear. When that happened, Jin Mo took hurriedly took a step back.

Currently, Jin Mo's previous bearing of a proud and wise noble had been lost, replaced by ragged breathing and an expression of utmost respect, bewilderment and fear. The way he looked at Issei was no longer one of amusement, but rather, a gaze filled with complex and deep emotions.

"You..." Jin Mo murmured, his eyes widened. "Why is someone like you in this place?" He then continued again, "How can someone like you even exist?!"

Issei, at the side, was obviously taken aback by the sudden change in treatment on the old man's part. He then looked at him puzzledly, "I'm sorry, but I truly don't know..."

"What?!" Jin Mo's eyes widened even further, before suddenly narrowing. "Could it be..." He then looked up at Issei, "Tell me, what do you know about your past?"

"Nothing," Issei shook his head, not holding back the truth. After all, considering the unfathomable cultivation that this guy possessed, his lies would be seen-through in an instant. "I was abandoned..."

"So... it's truly like that," getting his confirmation, Jin Mo nodded slowly, before he suddenly started laughing, "Still, who would have thought that I would actually meet some from _those_ places here?! Ha ha, this must be fate!"

He then looked over at Issei, an extremely amiable look in his eye, "Come on, lad! You want my legacies, right?! Follow me! They are all yours!"

As he said that, he started to happily and energetically walk towards the stone pedestals, an excited expression on his face. While this happened, Issei only had one though going through his mind – What the hell is going on?!

He never would have expected that out of the blue, just after checking his talent, the old man would have such a change of heart! He looked tired and wizened just a moment ago, but now, he was as energetic as he could possibly be! Could it be that he was just putting up appearances earlier?

Still, in the end, Issei could only sigh. He was a smart person, and knew that thinking too much into this would only bring forth needless troubles. He should just focus in the situation at hand. Furthermore, if the old man had any intention on telling him about his background, he would have done so already.

Shaking his head lightly, Issei picked up the pace and followed the old man to the stone pedestals.

They quickly arrived in the first one, and at the top, there was a black jade-slip floating up in the air. With a single wave of his sleeves, the jade slip flew to the old man's hands. With an ingratiating smile, the old man showed Issei the small, round, object.

"Here, this is the first one," Jin Mo energetically explained, "I found this while wandering across the Martial Holy Lands, in a mystic realm... Oh, such good times..."

He then smiled lightly, "This one is a martial skill called Divine Dragon's Rule. As for its contents, I'll leave them for you to find out..."

He then lifted the jades slip with his right hand and placed it on Issei's forehead. On the next moment, the jade sleep shined lightly. The light then entered Issei's forehead before the jade slip crumbled, becoming dust.

In Issei's sea of consciousness, while that happened, he felt that something had been recorded in his mind, but he just couldn't look into it. Upon noticing this, Issei's expression turned troubled.

Seeing the expression on Issei's face, the old man laughed slightly, "This type of martial skill is special, and can't be passed on in normal scrolls. It's the kind that must be directly transmitted to the mind, and only one person can be in possession of it.

"As for why you can't use it, it's because I placed a seal on it, as with your current abilities, it's useless, because there's no way you'll be able to use it."

Issei's face turned slightly down-cast, as he was looking forward to trying out the skill right away. Still, he still got something in the end. "Then, when will I'll be able to use it?"

"Don't worry, don't worry," Jin Mo waved his hands, "When you reach the late stages of the Sovereign Realm, the seal will naturally come undone."

Late stages of the Sovereign Realm?! Issei's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. What sort of concept was the Sovereign Realm?! In the entire Profound Sky Continent's history, there had never been someone in the middle stages of the Sovereign Realm, never mind the late stages. Even someone in the Tyrant Profound Realm was already considered the peak existence! And, those sort of people were scarce, and were all concentrated in the Divine Phoenix Empire!

Yet, this old man simply spoke of the late stages of the Sovereign Profound Realm as if it were some trifling, casual, thing that could be achieved with little to no effort! Just what kind of situation was this?!

Seeing the expression on Issei's face, the old man laughed, "Don't worry, with your talent, you'll get there sooner than you think!"

Sooner than I think? Once more, Issei's expression turned sullen. How was he, who was already going through hardships in his journey of getting to the seventh level of the Nascent Profound Realm, expected to get into the Sovereign Profound Realm?! Even getting into the Sky Profound Realm would only be wishful thinking.

Sighing, Issei could do anything but to force out a smile and slowly nod his head, ignoring the pain in his heart.

The old man, who was oblivious to the inner demons that Issei faced, continued to happily hop around, getting to the second jade pedestal.

Floating on to of it, just like in the previous one, was a jade slip. This one, however, was of a pure golden color.

Repeating the same actions from before, Jin Mo grabbed the jade slip and gave a brief explaining on it's past.

"This one was found while I was swimming in the ocean, searching for Flood Dragons..." The old man started, as a far-away look appeared on his face, "On the middle of the search, I came across another mystic realm. After staying inside for a couple hundred of years, I came out with this."

Again, Issei was once more flabbergasted. Just who was this senile old man?! He just casually spoke that he stayed inside a few hundred years as if it was nothing! Also, who the hell goes searching for Flood Dragons while swimming in the oceans?!

Also, just what the hell are mystic realms? This was the second time that it was mentioned already. And, he had also mentioned something about Martial Holy Lands previously. Just what sort of place is that?

Still, Issei didn't ask such questions, as he had a feeling that this lively old man would just dodge them. Rather than wasting his time with things he didn't know, and didn't even need to know, he felt like it would be better to just get his skills and get the hell away from this place.

Anyhow, after finishing talking about the background of the skill, the old man finally revealed the name, "Well, this skill is called the Divine Water Tribulation Blade. Like before, I'll let you to figure out the contents when the time comes."

Then, just like last time, Jin Mo pressed the jade slip against Issei's forehead, making it shine brightly, only to crumble later on. On Issei's mind, yet another thing was recorded, making company to the other one, but just like last time, it was sealed, and he couldn't look into it.

With a sigh, Issei asked. "When will I be able to use this one?"

Hearing this, Jin Mo's face turned slightly troubled, "Well, this one is a tad bit more difficult. It required you to be in the Origin Realm..."

Origin Realm... Issei had never even heard of such realm! The highest one that he was aware of was the Divine Profound Realm, and he had always found it to be the peak of Martial Arts, but once more, he was proven wrong. Apparently, even after reaching the Divine Profound Realm, there were still many other Realms to follow... how troubling.

With an even more downcast expression, Issei could only nod, as he resigned himself to the cruel fate that he won't ever be able to use these skills in his entire life. He was one to think realistically, and not even for a moment did he think that he would ever reach such high realms...

Either way, following that, the old man walked to the last jade stand. On top of it, majestically floating in air, was yet another jade slip. This one, however, was of a light green color, and in the middle of it, was a pearl.

As soon as Issei caught sight of it, his eyes widened as he felt something pulling it to him; he was somehow attracted to it. This feeling... it was as if this jade slip belonged to him already! As if it desired to be his!

At that moment, he felt a burning sensation on his left hand. Looking down, he saw that the small, pearl-like mark of the Sky Poison Pearl had suddenly manifested, and was shining madly, as if it wanted to reunite with that jade slip more than anything in the world!


	62. Exclusive Skill

**Info:**

 **Cultivation Realms – Elementary Profound Realm, Nascent Profound Realm, True Profound Realm, Spirit Profound Realm, Earth Profound Realm, Sky Profound Realm, Emperor Profound Realm, Tyrant Profound Realm, Sovereign Profound Realm, Saint Profound Realm and Divine Profound Realm.**

 **World Spiritist Levels – White-Cloak, Gray-Cloak, Blue-Cloak, Purple-Cloak, Gold-Cloak.**

 **Profound System Ranks - Low Ranked Profound System, Medium Ranked Profound System, High Ranked Profound System, Special Ranked Profound System, Legendary Ranked Profound System, Ultimate Ranked Profound System and Heavenly Ranked Profound System.**

* * *

 **Chapter 62 - Exclusive Skill**

* * *

Completely obvious to what was happening around him, the old man casually waved his hands, the green jade slip falling to his hands. He then looked back at Issei, who was doing his best to hold back his anxiousness.

With a slight smile, the old man explained, "This jade slip is the one that was supposedly left behind by a God... I found it a couple hundreds of thousands years ago, when I was wandering around in the Immortal God's Abyss."

(This was the second chapter today. If you haven't yet, read the previous chapter, 61. Also, read the Author Notes at the start of chapter 61, which is right after the info.)

He then sighed, "Still, this is the most useless of all the skills, as it has a single yet impossible requirement..."

"What might it be?" Issei asked, his eyes shining brightly.

Jin Mo shook his head, a downcast expression on his face, "Although it doesn't have any restrictions based on level of cultivation, it requires a single thing to work. This thing is... the Sky Poison Pearl, the Heavenly Profound Treasure that is ranked fifth between the others Heavenly Profound Treasures!"

Reaching that far, he sighed once more, "Still, currently, no one knows the whereabouts of the Sky Poison Pearl, so this skill is nothing short of useless..."

However, Jin Mo suddenly stopped, as he finally took notice of the fact that Issei's left hand was shining madly. With a puzzled look, he reached out to the hand. When he saw the little pearl-like mark on the palm, his eyes suddenly widened greatly.

"T-t-t-this... Y-y-you have the S-Sky Poison Pearl?!"

"Well, yes.." Issei murmured slightly.

"Oh Heavens!" Jin Mo suddenly exclaimed in shock. "This... this..!"

At that moment, his eyes suddenly blinked as in the next moment, they widened. He then looked at the jade slip that rested on his other hand. "Then... this means..."

Without a second thought, he immediately struck out his hand, heavily smashing the jade slip against Issei's forehead due to excitement. Soon after, the jade slip crumbled, and something entered Issei's mind.

Following that, the mark of the Sky Poison Pearl suddenly stopped shining, returning back to it's default mode, disappearing under his skin.

Right at that moment, in Issei's mind, a string of words appeared.

 **Heavenly Profound Entrance Opening**

 **A skill exclusive to the Sky Poison Pearl.**

 **By interfacing your spiritual power with the Sky Poison Pearl, it's possible to unleash this skill.**

 **In short, this skill allows you to open any and all kind of Profound Entrances.**

 **With this, it's possible to open all fifty-four profound Entrances, and achieve the level of having the** **Heavenly God's Spiritual Veins!**

When Issei finished reading the string of words, his eyes were widened, much more than they had ever been in his entire life. Opening all of the Profound Entrances?! Any and all kinds?! What sort of skill was this?! It must be said that in the entire Profound Sky Continent, the master who was able to open the biggest amount of Profound Entrances could only open five! Five! And, this skill allowed you to open all of the fifty-four!

Furthermore, after reading a bit further, he found out that not only is this method capable of opening one's own Profound Entrances, it's also possible to use it to open another person's! With this, Issei had the ability to just go around, granting everyone Heavenly God Spiritual Veins, a state that meant that all of the Profound Entrances were opened!

Obviously, he would not dare to do such a thing, but that did not mean he was unable to! Just by relying on this technique alone, he could become the richest man in existence just by selling his services.

However, all of that were only secondary. The important part was the fact that the method of opening the Profound Entrances was one and the same. There wasn't a differentiation from the method used to open the Bamboo Grove Profound Entrance and the Azure Sky Profound Entrance or the whatever-whatever profound entrance! The method was always the same!

And, this meant that Issei would be able to open all of his eight-hundred and sixty-four profound entrances! Such a concept, that Issei had already long since given up on, was suddenly opened up right before his eyes!

If he was truly able to open all of them, then that meant that maybe, just maybe, his cultivation speed would increase by such an absurd amount that it would make it possible for him to cultivate just like any other person! He wouldn't have to resort to pain-painstakingly search around the world for cultivation resources anymore!

And, this would also meant that he would have the chance to reach higher realms, maybe even the Origin Realm that Jin Mo spoke of!

This... was truly a blessing granted by the heavens! He truly couldn't hope for a better, more usable and more desired skill!

Anyhow, Issei knew that right now, his top priority was to immediately open up his Profound Entrances, but right now, he couldn't do it, as he was still inside this place with old man Jin Mo. As such, although Issei was in a hurry to leave, he didn't show it, as it would be disrespectful.

Jin Mo, however, wasn't any senile old man. Although he was old, he still remembered his younger day with clarity, and could easily picture just how excited that the brat in front of him was. With a slight smile, he spoke up.

"Well, kid, don't worry, I'll let you go back in a second. This old man has already lived for so long... how could I simply keep you here?"

He then waved his hands, and Issei's body, beginning from the bottom, began to fade away. With a slight, yet sad smile, Jin Mo sighed.

"Well, before, even though I had already died, my spirit wasn't able to rest in peace, as I didn't have someone to take on my legacies. Now, however, I can finally pass on to afterlife after knowing that I got myself such an amazing successor."

At this point, only Issei's head remained. Before he was completely teleported, Jin Mo smiled once more, "Kid, if you want to know about your past, I suggest that you either go the Martial Holy Lands or the Illusory Demon Realm."

With a sad smile, he added, "Also, say hello to old man Yun Canghai for me, if you ever manage to find him. Tell him that old Jin Mo still wants his money back."

And, just like that, the teleportation ended, and Issei left the place, leaving the old man behind. Sighing, Jin Mo shook his head lightly, before looking back to the jade pedestals.

"Well, I guess that's it. I've got no more reason to stay in this world anymore..."

As he said that, he waved his hands, causing a coffin to rise up from the ground right in the middle of the room, near the jade pedestals.

The lid to the coffin was open, and lying in the middle of it, with his eyes closed and hands crossed, was a corpse that looked just like Jin Mo. Furthermore, on the corpse's face, there was a slightly troubled expression, as if he still had some regrets after his death.

Smiling lightly, Jin Mo's spirit walked towards the corpse. Reaching it, he laid down in the coffin, his figure overlapping with the corpse's.

As he closed his eyes, he murmured, "Issei... you truly have a bright future ahead of you. I wish you good luck in your journey."

In that moment, the corpse and the spirit overlapped, and the regretful expression on the corpse's face suddenly loosened, becoming a peaceful one, as if he had finally accepted his death.

From that moment onwards, Jin Mo would never open his eyes again.

…

….

…..

While this happened, back in the tomb, where the Head of the Thousand Thunder School and the old man in white were staying, a shining, blinding light flashed. In the next moment, Issei appeared there, in the place where the black, crystal-like, round orb had been previously been.

The two old men, who had been bickering this whole time, suddenly widened their eyes as they realized that the young boy had finally arrived.

"Took him long enough..." the Head of the Thousand Thunder School grumbled, clearly displeased at the fact that the brat had spent too much time inside. However, while he said such words, in his face, a wicked smile flashed.

On the other side, the old man in white had a similar expression, as he also smiled darkly. Obviously, both of them were preparing to ambush Issei and steal whatever treasures he had acquired inside. They were specially looking forward to the skills. Since he had been there for so long, they were sure that

Issei had managed to get some recognition from the skills and had acquired them.

After a couple of seconds, just when the light-faded, Issei looked around and noticed that he was back in the place he had previously been. Looking around, he saw the greedy and cruel smiles on the faces of the two old men.

" Crap, I completely forgot about them..." Issei cursed slightly, now remembering the predicament that he was in.

He then took in a deep breath and took a step forward, stepping out of the stone pedestal. At that moment, the Head of the Thousand Thunder School spoke out.

"Brat, did you get the skills?!"

Issei thought over for a moment before nodding. There was no use in hiding it, as it was already obvious. "Yes, but..."

As he said that, his eyes suddenly flashed with a spark of thunder, before he completely entered the Lightning Incarnation Mode. His feet then pushed against the ground as he sprinted forward.

"You won't be getting them!" Issei exclaimed as he crossed tens of meters in a question of seconds, quickly crossing the room.

"You damn brat!" Seeing Issei's intentions, the Head of the Thousand Thunder School cursed out loud and released the golden ceiling that he had been holding.

*rumble rumble *

However, Just as he let go, the ceiling suddenly dropped and the entire place started to tremble.

"Fudge!" Facing that situation, the head of the Thousand Thunder School could only curse as he once more raised up the hands that he had just released. If he didn't, the three of them would immediately be squashed to death.

Seeing that, Issei didn't dare to delay anymore as he immediately ran forward, reaching the other end of the room and quickly grabbing the stairs, beginning his descent.

If it wasn't for the golden ceiling that restrained the two old men, with a single movement of their fingers, he would be instantly killed by then. As such, he had to make use of the situation in any way possible.

After Issei had started his descent, the two old men glanced at each other, and quickly nodded. A couple of minutes later, they yelled, "Now!"

They then let go of the ceiling and dashed towards Issei.

 **Read & Review~!**


	63. Raging Flames

**Info:**

 **Cultivation Realms – Elementary Profound Realm, Nascent Profound Realm, True Profound Realm, Spirit Profound Realm, Earth Profound Realm, Sky Profound Realm, Emperor Profound Realm, Tyrant Profound Realm, Sovereign Profound Realm, Saint Profound Realm and Divine Profound Realm.**

 **World Spiritist Levels – White-Cloak, Gray-Cloak, Blue-Cloak, Purple-Cloak, Gold-Cloak.**

 **Profound System Ranks - Low Ranked Profound System, Medium Ranked Profound System, High Ranked Profound System, Special Ranked Profound System, Legendary Ranked Profound System, Ultimate Ranked Profound System and Heavenly Ranked Profound System.**

 **A/N: The poll in my profile will be closed on next Monday's morning, so vote while you still can.**

* * *

 **Chapter 63 - Raging Flames**

* * *

(For those that didn't notice, I posted two chapters yesterday. There's also a poll going on in my profile that pertains to how I'll update this story. Please give it a look.)

After escaping the room and climbing down the stairs, Issei quickly dashed towards the road he had come from. Even though he had no idea how the experts would be able to free themselves from the collapsing ceiling, he was sure that sooner or later, they would start pursuing him.

As such, Issei did something that he was rather acquainted in in doing – running. He knew that in a direct confrontation, he would hold no chances of even scratching those two old monsters. So, from the very start, he already used the Lightning Incarnation, running faster than he had ever ran.

Along the way, as he ran, Issei also caught sight of many corpses. Obviously, a huge battle had taken place in this tomb. Issei clearly knew that the amount of people who sacrificed their lives in hopes to reap rewards wasn't a trifling number, as many of them had greedy hearts. However, in the end, the only one who actually managed to acquire something was none other than Issei. Not only did he get the three legendary skills, he also got a way to open all of his profound veins and an add-in bonus of one hundred and twenty Nascent Beads!

However, just as Issei was starting to think that the distance between them was already a considerable one, he realized that he couldn't be any wronger.

"You stinking brat! Stop right there!" An enraged yell akin to a thunder-bolt making contact with the ground reached his hears. In that moment, he knew that the head of the Thousand Thunder School had caught up.

"You damnable child!" Following that, another enraged shout, this one with a deeper and more sarcastic voice, also came from behind him. Oh great, the old man in white _also_ caught up.

However, even though they had truly managed to reach the little boy, they weren't in an exactly good situation. Not only were the two of them completely messy, with ragged robes, unruly hair and mud marks all over their body, they were also bleeding from various wounds. In order to escape from the collapsing ceiling, the price they had paid wasn't some trifling little thing.

Still, Issei knew that even if they were in such a state, they would be able to kill him with little to no effort on their part. After all, those wounds that they had gotten, to them, wasn't something really life-threatening, and they could still use their spiritual power freely.

"Crap.." Issei muttered, his eyes narrowing. "It's all or nothing from here on out."

As he said those words, he forcefully increased the power of the Lightning Incarnation mode. His skin started to crack, and smoke started to come out from his pores, which were opening and closing non-stop. His whole appearance turned red, and lightning arcs began to dance all over his body.

This mode was something that Issei had recently developed, called the Lightning Overdrive. By forcefully increasing the power, quantity and quality of the Lightning Incarnation mode, he was able to experience a qualitative increase in speed, strength and power. However, obviously, such an ability had its side-effects, the most important of them being the literal burning of life force.

Life force, in layman's terms, was someone's longevity and vitality. The higher one's life force, the longer they would live and the higher their regenerative factor. When using the Lightning Overdrive, Issei would literally use his own life force as fuel. This meant that he would be sacrificing his longevity and, consequently, his lifespan.

Obviously, such things as longevity and amount of years to live could be acquired through further advances on cultivation, but such things were deeply treasured by young cultivators, and most would hesitate before sacrificing them. Issei, however, was a decisive person, and if needed to, he would do so without any qualms. Furthermore, his life-span was inherently higher than a normal cultivator, as one of the boosts of his Profound System was three hundred years more to live. (See chapter 4)

Three hundred years could be a small amount or a big amount, depending on the person. To a mortal, it would mean various lifetimes, but to a cultivator, it wouldn't be anything much, especially to those in the high realms, like the Tyrant and Sovereign, that could live for tens of thousands of years. It was even said that upon reaching the Divine Profound Realm, living a million years wouldn't be anything noteworthy.

Still, to someone on Issei's level, three hundred years was still precious, but he had no other choice than to use it.

Anyhow, with his increased speed, the distance between them opened up quite a bit. However, while that happened, in the two minutes since he had activate the skill, he had already lost over two months of life.

However, just as he was getting worried that even burning his life force wasn't enough, something strange happened.

"Hm?"

Suddenly, completely out of nowhere, the pressure that he was feeling behind him, that came from the two old men, disappeared. When he turned his around to look back, his shock soared to new heights. Behind him, not even a single shadow could be seen. It was completely and utterly empty.

"What… just happened?" Issei asked, stopping in his tracks with a puzzled, surprised and happy look in his face. Puzzled and surprised because of the sudden disappearance on his pursuers, and happy…well... for the very same reason.

..

…

…..

At the same time that Issei was confused over why the two old men had suddenly vanished, dozens of miles outside of the tomb, the two old men were sitting there, while staring blankly at the figure in from of them.

Currently, the haughty and proud atmosphere belonging to the two old monsters had disappeared. They were both shaking uncontrollably, their lips twitching and their body shivering. They had looks full of terror as they gazed ahead.

In front of them was a beggar. His hair was chaotic, completely unruly, while his eyes were sharp, like the edge of a blade. Adorning his forehead was a flame-like scar, that seemed to be burning with eternal passion. This beggar… was none other than the insane beggar that Issei had previously come across.

"S-senior.. who are y-you?" Both old men spoke lightly, their eyes widened, while their bodies trembled.

When they looked at the middle-aged beggar in front of them, they were simply scared to the point where they couldn't comprehend reality. Even though the beggar didn't seem to have even the slightest bit of spiritual power, and seemed just like a normal person, only gazing at his eyes would cause one to tremble. The fear that they felt was deep, and permeated deep into their bones.

Furthermore, their fear was at this level, not only because of his eyes, but also because of what had happened not too long ago. Although they didn't see how they arrived back at the desert, the two old monsters had a foreboding feeling that they came from the sky. To be able to fly.. meant that this seemingly harmless beggar was in the Sky Profound Realm, as only people of that realm or higher had such ability.

An expert in the Sky Profound Realm. In the Azure Province, such a level was already considered the very peak, and was border-line unmatchable. Even in the almighty Jiang Dynasty, the overlord clan of the Nine Provinces, such a figure would be respected.

However, even in important sects and school, the ones that had reached the Sky Profound Realm were old, at least as old as they were, if not more. Still, this beggar in front of them was clearly middle-aged. Such a thing… the talent required to do that was nothing short of mind-blowing!

Anyways, the question that they had asked seemed like it had fallen into deaf ears, as the beggar completely ignored their sentence. With serious eyes, the beggar spoke, "You must not attack him."

His voice was steady and firm, and his entire figure, although he was wearing such ragged clothing, was akin to that of an immortal, overlooking the mortal world with peerless power and loftiness.

"I shouldn't attack.. Do you mean… that boy?" The head of the Thousand Thunder School's eyes widened, as he suddenly realized that he had probably done some horrible mistake.

By his side, the old men in white, completely throwing away his dignity, knelt on the ground and kowtowed, his head banging hard against the sand. "Almighty Senior, I'm truly sorry. I had eyes, but couldn't see. I did not know that he was connected to you. I h-hope that you can show me some grace and s-spare this old junior's life."

The old man in white, when faced with such a situation, didn't hold back, and displayed the full extent of his boot-licking skills. After all, he remembered that the boy they had been chasing was clearly different from others. If Issei was truly connected to this beggar, then after his attempt to kill Issei before, then the current him was already a dead man.

Hearing the old man's in white speech, the head of the Thousand Thunder School also kowtowed, and pleaded, "Please, spare me.. spare me… please..."

* Rumble Rumble*

However, right at that moment, a sound akin to a thunderclap resonated out. It was the sound of loud footsteps, and while that happened, sand sprung up in every direction. Not too far away from their position, in the distance, a group of densely gathered people were madly running towards the tomb. Only by glancing at their clothes, anyone could tell that it was an army of disciples belonging to the Thousand Thunder School.

The Thousand Thunder School had very obvious intentions. They wanted to send in a huge army, and planned on monopolizing the treasures within the tomb. As such, they kept sending in more and more people, gathered together in densely packed groups. This army was one of such groups.

A little while before, they weren't in such a rush, but when they caught sight of the head of their school kowtowing on the ground, throwing away all of his pride, with his clothes in shred and wounds all over their body, they immediately hastened their pace.

"Who do you think you are to dare to harm the head of our school?!"

The elders who were in front of the group of people, leading the army, were quick to recognize their head. However, the moment they saw his miserable state and how he begged for forgiveness, they grew incomparably furious and angry. Without giving it even a second thought, they immediately lead their army, preparing for slaughtering the man who stood in front of their school's head.

Still, even while facing such a majestic scene, the head of the Thousand Thunder School's expression didn't change in the slightest as he continued banging his head against the ground, begging the beggar for forgiveness. He clearly knew that the monster in front of him wasn't a person that could be beaten with numbers.

However, his efforts were in vain, as the beggar sighed.

"Even if I don't take your lives right now, _he_ will not forgive you. I'll be merciful and help you out. At the very least, this is a much better ending than _he_ making a move on you."

While he said so, he closed his eyes. Following that, the flaming scar in his forehead started to shine, emitting a fiery glow. The beggar's hair started to flutter, and a huge, ear-splitting boom resounded. Within the circumference of ten miles around the beggar, everything was enveloped in an ocean of flames.

The ocean of fire rose into the air, reaching dozens of meters tall. The surging flames completely devoured everything on their path, as they roared, rushing around the desert.

In a split-second, before they could even react, the entire army of the Thousand Thunder School was swallowed by the raging fire. The previously arrogant and aggressive disciples of the Thousand Thunder School completely lost all of their power, and stared to roll their bodies in the ground, while howling in pain.

In a single instant, all sorts of sorrowful cries sounded everywhere. Even the head of the Thousand Thunder School, who was on the tenth level of the Earth Profound Realm, and the old man in white, who was half-step into the Sky Profound Realm, were thrown into a world of endless agony and pain, just like the others around them.

However, the beggar wasn't affected at all by the endless flames. Even his clothes were fine as he calmly strolled around within the ocean of raging fire.

His clothes may be in a horrible state, his hair may be in chaos, but the aura around his body was unmatchable. Everyone who looked at the current him would be filled with awe and respect. He was simply like an immortal king that had descended to the mortal realm, an unreachable and peerless existence.

While he walked, the eyes of the middle-aged beggar shined with an eerie light, as he murmured, "I am the raging flames of the burning heavens, the one who call burn all things in existence. I am the Saint of the Burning Heavens and I dream of uniting the world. I am the Holy Son of the Burning Heavens and I am invincible…"

 **Read & Review~!**


	64. Heading Back

**Info:**

 **Cultivation Realms – Elementary Profound Realm, Nascent Profound Realm, True Profound Realm, Spirit Profound Realm, Earth Profound Realm, Sky Profound Realm, Emperor Profound Realm, Tyrant Profound Realm, Sovereign Profound Realm, Saint Profound Realm and Divine Profound Realm.**

 **World Spiritist Levels – White-Cloak, Gray-Cloak, Blue-Cloak, Purple-Cloak, Gold-Cloak.**

 **Profound System Ranks - Low Ranked Profound System, Medium Ranked Profound System, High Ranked Profound System, Special Ranked Profound System, Legendary Ranked Profound System, Ultimate Ranked Profound System and Heavenly Ranked Profound System.**

* * *

 **Chapter 64 - Heading Back**

* * *

Suddenly, while the dignified beggar was wandering around in the endless ocean of fire, he stopped, his expression flashing.

"Ah!"

His expression quickly changed into one of intense suffering as he started to howl in so much suffering that it reached the point where he begged to die. His body was already on the ground, rolling around as he grabbed his long, black hair.

His eyes, that were like that of an Immortal's gradually became dull, hazy and empty. He looked tense, scared and fearful as he looked around, obviously frightened by something. After a moment, he jumped up from the ground while shaking his body in all directions.

"Forgiveness! I deserve death! Death! I shouldn't have intrude your territory, please forgive me! I don't want to die!"

"I swear that I'll conduct my duty! I promise that I'll find him again and protect him! I shouldn't have let him be stolen from me by those demons! As long as you let me go, even if I have to flip-over the entire world, I'll find him and protect him!"

In that same day, a couple of hours later, the entire desert was deemed a forbidden area. Even though the flames had long since dispersed, the area still maintained its elevated temperature, and it was so high that no one could step into it. Even someone in the Sky Profound Realm would face some troubles if they were to enter.

A couple days later, at the entrance of Ling city, a group of cultivators could be found. They all wore robes of different colors, but if Issei were there, he would instantly recognize them as the members of the Water Devil Alliance. Each and everyone of them had tired expression, along with concern and anxiousness.

In the front of the group, standing in the ground, staying firm and mighty, was the leader of the Water Devil Alliance, Sitri Sona. She had a deep and complex look as he looked deep into the desert, as if waiting for something or someone. Sa Ji stood by her side, a worried and sad look in his face.

"Boss, it has already been three days… We should head back to the inn. By now, Junior Brother has most probably already..."

"No! We shall wait here!" The answer to his question, however, was a firm no, as Sona didn't even turn around to look at him, her gaze still fixed into the depths of the desert.

On her right side, standing opposite of Sa Ji, Tsubaki sighed.

"Sona, as much as it pains me to say this, Sa Ji is right. The tomb has already become a forbidden area, a place where even experts of the Spirit Profound Realm can't enter. You should just accept the fact that Junior Brother Issei is no longer with us!"

"But…." Sona was about to retort, but she suddenly stopped as he eyes widened, her figure becoming petrified. Far off into the distance, she saw the fast-approaching figure of a young boy.

"Huh?" Sa Ji and Tsubaki noticed the sudden reaction on Sona's part, and also turned around to gaze in the direction she was so fixedly looking at. As soon as they saw it, their eyes also widened, their mouths agape.

A couple of seconds later, in front of them, a youth in ragged clothing came into view, his hair unruly, his eyes red and his skin full of wounds. His face was tired, and it seemed like he hadn't slept in days. Still, his eyes were brimming with vitality, in contrast with his worn-down features, as he looked straight ahead.

"Junior Brother!" All of them exclaimed in unison, their faces pleasantly surprised. At this moment, Sona, who had been rendered silly just a minute ago, suddenly moved as she dashed towards Issei. Reaching him, she seemed like she was just about to hug him, but suddenly stopped, as if she remembered something.

Instead, she asked, "What in Heaven's name happened in there, Junior Brother?! Why are you so late?!" Her eyes, although cold, were filled with care and concern. In her mind, she truly viewed this younger boy, who was clearly stronger than her in all aspects, as her younger brother.

However, Issei didn't really seem to have any intention of answering her questions, as he cursed silently, "Dammed old men. Curse you and all of your eighteen generations of ancestors. Rot in hell..."

He walked forward as he mumbled curse after curse, his eyes shining with a ferocious light and killing intent as he was reminded of how much hardships he had to endure because of those freaking old bastards.

After that, no one of the Water Devil Alliance dared to ask Issei any further questions. They could clearly see that he was enraged beyond belief, and was currently just like a powder keg that could explode in any given second.

Of course, even if they managed to muster up the courage to ask Issei, they wouldn't get any answer, as there was no way that Issei would tell him about getting the three skills, being almost killed by two old bastards, and in order to make sure that he wasn't going to be ambushed, spending three days wandering around, taking different paths, before arriving in Ling City.

Still, when he heard the news about the sudden ocean of fire, even he was surprised. And, when he heard about the fact that an entire army of Thousand Thunder School disciples was massacred, and how the whereabouts of the head of the Thousand Thunder School were unknown, he couldn't help but to be quite taken aback.

After all, this was just too strange. A huge ocean of billowing flames with the circumference of over ten miles randomly appearing in the middle of the desert, close to the tomb, wasn't any daily occurrence. Also, the fact that even though the flames were already dissipated, the heat in the region was so high that even experts of the Spirit Profound Realm were unable to enter was certainly quite scary.,

In the end, however, not only was Issei surprised, he was also extremely jubilant. In his mind, he couldn't help but to exclaim: "Take that, freaking old man! Burn! Burn! Burn!"

It must be noted that the anger that Issei held towards the two old men was truly deep….

...

...

...

A couple of days later, all of the members of the Water Devil Alliance finally arrived in the Heavenly Might School after a hushed trip. Obviously, they were looking forward to seeing their Junior Brother being crowned as the number one disciple. This would mean that in terms of overall influence, the Water Devil Alliance would experience a qualitative leap!

Upon returning, every member headed to their own dorms, including Sona, as Issei directly rushed to the core disciple area. Upon arriving at the entrance, two core disciple, who stood there as guards, rushed to prevent him from passing.

However, just as they were about to order him to stop, Issei simply waved his fingers, and two small bolts of lightning condensed in front of him before rushing into the necks of the core disciples, completely rendering them unconscious.

After learning about the human body, Issei had a deep understanding of nerves, veins and meridians, and only by aiming his lighting power at a single area, he could make them instantly pass out. Of course, he didn't need to go that far, but he was in quite a hurry.

He had waited long, way too long for this day, and couldn't wait any longer. Whoever dared to stand in his path would be dealt with, without exception. Furthermore, he still held burning anger in his heart, because of what had happened in the tomb. He needed an outlet, and the core disciple area just happened to be a perfect place for that.

Thankfully, it seemed that his rush was unneeded, as just before he started to wreak havoc in the core disciple area in order to get a meeting with the headmaster, the man himself appeared before him.

"Hehehe, Junior, What's the rush?"

Issei, who was to rush into the residence of the head of the school, suddenly turned around, only to see a handsome middle-aged man wearing long green robes standing behind him.

This middle-aged man's face was rather young, yet his eyes exuded a certain ancientness. All in all, he looked like a quite inconspicuous middle-aged fellow.

As soon as Issei saw him, his eyes that were burning with passion, calmed down as he got down on one knee. "Disciple greets the Headmaster Yua Ling." In one second, he went from a raging devil from hell to a little, obedient, subordinate. The people in the surroundings had their mouth opened and eyes widened at how much this little boy could change in less than a second.

The middle-aged man, Yua Ling, was the headmaster of the Heavenly Might School, and the same guy who had instructed Issei to deal with Long Tian in the tomb. As he gazed at the boy in front of him, Yua Ling's gaze turned happy.

"I see that you have managed to kill Long Tian..." He muttered as he recalled back to what happened a few days back. While he strolled around his courtyard, a jade that he held in his pocket suddenly crumbled. This jade was directly connected to Long Tian's life, and it crumbling meant that he had died. Not only that, it also sent him Long Tian's last memories.

On them, he saw as Issei managed to first poison Long Tian and afterward slaughter his group. It must be said that Yua Ling was quite pleased with Issei's method, as he believed that being vicious was an important aspect in cultivation.

Anyways, Yua Ling then sighed, "Follow me." As he said so, he walked into his residence, Issei following him closely from behind.

His residence, was, in fact, a huge palace that stood mightily in the very end of the core disciple area. It was a truly grandiose building, dozens of meters tall and tens of dozens of meters wide. Just like everything else in the school, it was luxuriously decorated, with extremely expensive furniture and building materials.

After entering the palace, he turned right, entering a large hall. As he walked, he slapped his cosmos sack, and in the following second, a small jade piece appeared in his hands.

On it, there was the number one written.

With a slight wave of his sleeves, the jade slip flew into the air as it slowly landed in Issei's hand like a falling feather in the wind. As soon as Issei caught it, he looked down and immediately noticed the number inscribed on it.

Looking up, Issei saw Yua Ling smiling at him warmly, "Congratulations, Issei, or should I say the number one core disciple?"

"Many thanks, Headmaster," Issei immediately bowed, displaying his respect. In reality, he didn't really have that much respect for the man, but since he was the headmaster, he needed to at the very least pretend that he thought highly of him. However, in the end, his thoughts were never pure, as when he raised his head, he already had a greedy look in his face.

After all, the reason why he chose the Heavenly Might School was because it was said that the number one core disciple could enjoy many benefits, including unlimited cultivation resources, something that Issei heavily thirsted for.

Well, was thirsting. He figured that if everything went well, after opening up all of his Profound Entrances, he wouldn't have such problem any longer. Still, he hadn't done so yet, so he really needed such treasures. As for why he hadn't done it, there was a single reason

In reality he needed to first comprehend the skill. Although it sounded simple, it definitely wasn't so. During these past few days, all of his time was spent pondering over the skill and seeking enlightenment on it. Thankfully, one day ago, while he road his profound beast, he was finally enlightened, and comprehended the process. However, he was riding a profound beast at the time, and as such, couldn't do anything about it.

In the end, he had to take a rain-check on opening his Profound Entrances. Later on this day, however, he was determined to attempt at opening them, after everything had been settled.

However, before Issei could even speak about the resources, Yua Ling suddenly smiled,"I know that you are in a hurry to cultivate using the school's resources, but before that, I have a surprise planned for you."

"Surprise?" Issei asked, slightly annoyed. To the current him, the position of number one core disciple had no other meaning other than being able to receive large quantities of cultivation resources. It was also for that very same reason that he even chose this school.

"Yes, surprise," Yua Ling smiled lightly before asking, "Tell me, have you noticed that lately, a great number of disciples have been disappearing and only returning a few hours later?"

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	65. Turn Of Events

**Info:**

 **Cultivation Realms – Elementary Profound Realm, Nascent Profound Realm, True Profound Realm, Spirit Profound Realm, Earth Profound Realm, Sky Profound Realm, Emperor Profound Realm, Tyrant Profound Realm, Sovereign Profound Realm, Saint Profound Realm and Divine Profound Realm.**

 **World Spiritist Levels – White-Cloak, Gray-Cloak, Blue-Cloak, Purple-Cloak, Gold-Cloak.**

 **Profound System Ranks - Low Ranked Profound System, Medium Ranked Profound System, High Ranked Profound System, Special Ranked Profound System, Legendary Ranked Profound System, Ultimate Ranked Profound System and Heavenly Ranked Profound System.**

* * *

 **Chapter 65 - Turn Of Events**

* * *

As soon as Yua Ling mentioned the disappearances that had been happening lately, Issei's interest was undoubtedly piqued. After all, even after he tried to figure out the mysteries behind them, he was left empty-handed. Although it didn't seem like it, even to this day, it still plagued his mind.

"What about them, headmaster?" Issei asked, making sure to hold back his anxiousness. Could it be that the headmaster knew the truth behind them? Or... could it be that he was the one behind them?

"Well, since you are now the number one core disciple, I think that it won't do any harm in telling you," The middle-aged man smiled lightly as they kept walking further deeper in the corridor, "You see, the disappearances... are actually related to me and the school's elders.

"You see, aside from the Thousand Thunder School, we have another rival school, the Azure Lightning School. Sadly, in terms of overall power, we are no match for them. Still, it had always been the dream of all the previous headmasters to occupy the position of the number one school in the Azure Province.

"As such, I reached a conclusion. I just needed to destroy all other schools!"

As soon as Issei heard that, his eyes widened. Destroy all other schools? Just what is this guy getting at...

Yua Ling then smirked darkly, "Still, the disciples of my school aren't strong enough, and it would be impossible to use them as an army. So, since I couldn't forcibly increase their cultivation base, I decided to go with a simpler approach. I'd make all of them become senseless killing weapons!"

Reaching that point, Yua Ling's face that was normally serene and calm developed a wicked smile. "A few months ago, I started adding some drugs to the food distributed by the school, along with the cultivation resources.

"This drug is an expensive one, called Heaven's Slave. It is quite simple. Firstly, the owner of the drug only has to send their spiritual power into the drug. Then, anyone who eats it would became a mindless slave, that would follow the owner's every command.

"Still, if I just made everyone become mindless slaves just like that, it would certainly seem suspicious, so I opted for a different approach. You see, as long as I don't fully activate the drug, it's possible to turn people into half-slaves. I could activate my spiritual power, and for a limited amount of time, the person would follow my every other. After this period of time ended, the person's memory would be erased."

Issei suddenly stopped walking, as his eyes widened. Just one second ago, he was ecstatic about finally achieving his dream of becoming the number one disciple, but his excitement was ephemeral. As soon as it came, it faded away.

Not noticing Issei's sudden change, Yua Ling continued, "Well, anyhow, as I mentioned, I wouldn't completely make people my slaves, as once the drug is fully activated, the consciousness of the person would forever be erased...

"So, while I waited to get more and more people into the school before launching the attack on the other schools with an army of people who don't fear death, me and the elders of the school decided to have a bit of fun."

Issei's pupils suddenly constricted. "Fun?"

A sly grin appeared on Yua Ling's face, "Why do you think that only the female disciples have been disappearing? And why they always come back tired and worn-out, without any memories? Think about it."

Issei's eyes widened as realization hit him. So, all those previous times that everyone disappeared... that happened?! As soon as Issei realized that, his expression grew dark, and he had to resist the urge to immediately attack this man there and then. Disgusting, utterly disgusting.

Still, Issei knew that it would not be wise to do anything right now. Also, there was something that he wanted to confirm. If what he feared was true, then he would not be able to hold himself back.

"Then... since when have you started drugging the foods?" Issei asked slowly, as he repressed his killing intent.

"It probably started a couple of months ago..." Yua Ling stopped and thought over for a bit.

"I need the exact time," Issei pressed on.

"Exact time?" Yua Ling murmured. "Well, ever since the girls started disappearing, but I don't know the exact time... well, around two months ago... give or take one week..."

Two months? Issei couldn't help but to breath out in relief. It had already been over three months since Xia Mei had departed, so that at least that meant that she managed to escape before it all started.

Even though Issei was now a little more relieved, his anger still hadn't diminished. Because... this still left Sona, his senior Sister. He had already noticed that she would never disappear like the other girls, but he needed to make sure.

"Then... what about Sitri Sona?" Issei asked as he kept his calm appearance.

Hearing that name, Yua Ling smirked slightly, "Sitri Sona? Well, she is the surprise that I prepared for you."

"Huh?"

Yua Ling smiled widened, "You see, that girl has pretty strong will power, and the drug hasn't been effective. But, I could see that you were really close to her, but hadn't made any moves on her yet, so I figured you were timid. As such, since I knew that sooner or later you would become the number one core disciple, I increased her dosage.

"Finally, today, the drug took effect and I managed to get her to obediently come. Right now, she is probably being lead to one of the rooms, so one of of the elders can "trial" her. Wanna go take a look? You'll be able to have her later."

She is being lead... This meant that nothing has happened yet! Issei's eyes sharpened as he had to suppress the urge to start running, searching for her, as he immediately faced Yua Ling, while suppressing the hatred and disgust in his eyes.

"Bring me to her right now."

"Hai, hai..." Yua Ling smirked, "Follow me."

He then walked forward, this time in a slightly increased pace, before finally arriving in front of one of the doors in his mansion. He then smiled at Issei, "She's inside. If you want to watch the action, I suggest..."

Before he could even finish, Issei smashed his fist against the door, completely shattering. He then dashed inside. Within the room, there was a middle-aged man, a lascivious look on his face. On the other side of the room was Sona, a dazed look in her eyes. She seemed to be stripping her clothes.

As soon as the door opened, the middle-aged man turned to look around, but in less than a second, his vision went black.

*Thump... *

Issei waved his hands with intense hatred, and in one second, an expert of the third level of the Spirit Profound Realm had his head severed.

Without even bothering with the middle-aged man's body, Issei rushed forward and quickly grabbed Sona. Instantly, he sent his spiritual power within her, getting rid of the drug. Her eyes, that were hazed, slowly cleared up.

"Junior Brother...?" She asked, still lethargic. At that moment, she noticed that she was no longer in her dorm. She was in some kind of wooden room, being held in Issei's head. Furthermore, she was only in her undergarments.

Looking up, she saw the look of pure hatred in Issei's eyes. "What is happ-"

Before she could finish, from outside the room, the headmaster of the room, Yua Ling rushed in. When he saw the severed head of his friend and the look of intense hatred in Issei's eyes, he beacame enraged.

"What do you think you are doing?!" He exclaimed in hatred as he waved his hand, preparing to take down this disciple of his that had gone rouge. However, before he could, black smoke started to come out from Issei's body.

Soon, the entire room was filled in dense, thick, black smoke. As soon as Yua Ling inhaled it, his cultivation base started to drop. One level, two levels, three levels... it dropped in a total of seven levels!

The Seven Heavens Poison! As soon as Yua Ling noticed it, his eyes widened. Originally, he was in the fifth level of the Spirit Profound Realm, but now, he had fallen to the ninth level of the True Profound Realm!

Before he could even take action, Issei, who was in front of his eyes, suddenly disappeared. In the next second, he felt wind build up behind him.

*Bamm! *

Yua Ling's body was was thrown forward as Issei's fist collided against his back. His body left the ground as it directly collided against one of the walls of the room, completely shattering it. Even then, his body continued going forward, until he fell in his mansion's courtyard, falling in a patch of grass.

Even with his cultivation base weakened, Yua Ling was, after all, a seasoned warrior, so even though he was taken by surprise, he managed to regain his bearings and quickly jumped a few dozens of meters back. In the place he had just been, there was no a huge crater, with Issei in the middle of it.

Issei's eyes were burning in rage. Even when he was being pursued by those two old men, he hadn't even come close to being this angry. In this world, the thing he loathed the most was the kind of scum in front of him.

As he looked up, he met Yua Ling's gaze dead in the eyes. While holding Sona in one arm and Gan Jiang in his free hand, he swore, "I swear, that today, you will pay for you sins!"

This guy dared to ravish his friends right under his nose. He dared to try to taint his Senior Sister. Issei didn't seem like it, but he greatly valued his friends and loved ones. If you try to mess with them, even if it was the son of god, Issei would slaughter him.

As he said such words, he slowly placed Sona on the ground. Without saying another word, he shook his left arm, and Mo Ye appeared. This time, it didn't matter which price he would have to pay, he would have Yua Ling's head!

Around Issei, a bloodthirsty atmosphere started to form, so much that it was starting to become tangible. His eyes were cold and sharp, like a blade that pierced deep within the void. Seeing such a scene, Yua Ling took a step back.

He, who was an expert of the fifth level of the Spirit profound Realm, was actually afraid of a kid in the sixth level of the Nascent profound Realm! Even with his cultivation sealed, he was still in the ninth level of the True Profound Realm, dammit!

Still, he couldn't shake off the feeling that today would be his last day. As he looked in Issei's eyes, he understood that this kid was hell-bent on his death. Even if he needed to swim in ocean of lava or cross a mountain of swords, he would definitely kill him!

Reaching such a conclusion, the fear in his eyes grew deeper. Instantly, he jumped a few feet back as he concentrated his spiritual power in his throat.

"Heaven's Slave! Full Activation!" He roared, and his voice, that carried his spiritual power, washed over the entire sect.

At that moment, everyone in the sect, without exception, stopped doing whatever they were doing. Their eyes grew hazy, and their expression blank. In the next moment, it didn't matter if it were outer disciples, inner disciples, core disciples or elders, everyone rushed with all their might towards the courtyard of the school's head mansion.

 **Read & Review~!**


	66. I'm Sorry

**Info:**

 **Cultivation Realms – Elementary Profound Realm, Nascent Profound Realm, True Profound Realm, Spirit Profound Realm, Earth Profound Realm, Sky Profound Realm, Emperor Profound Realm, Tyrant Profound Realm, Sovereign Profound Realm, Saint Profound Realm and Divine Profound Realm.**

 **World Spiritist Levels – White-Cloak, Gray-Cloak, Blue-Cloak, Purple-Cloak, Gold-Cloak.**

 **Profound System Ranks - Low Ranked Profound System, Medium Ranked Profound System, High Ranked Profound System, Special Ranked Profound System, Legendary Ranked Profound System, Ultimate Ranked Profound System and Heavenly Ranked Profound System.**

* * *

 **Chapter 66 - I'm Sorry...**

* * *

In the courtyard, Issei was currently hacking his blade Yua Ling with all of his might, using every last bits of his power to completely slaughter the man in front of him.

Still, every time the strikes connected, Yua Ling would take out a paper talisman from his cosmos sack, each one of the only being able to block one attack before shattering. In less than ten seconds, he had already used over a thousand of such talismans!

Even then, Yua Ling kept placing more and more talismans as he tried to buy himself some time. He knew that in a couple of seconds, everyone in school would arrive in this place. In that moment, it didn't matter how mighty Issei was, he would face his death.

When he was about to take out the three thousandth paper talisman from his cosmos sack, in that exact moment, the aura of twenty experts in the Spirit Profound Realm arrived over at that place. Those were the school's twenty great elders!

All of their eyes were muddy, a blank expression on their face. Like everyone else in this school, they had been drugged, and since Yua Ling used the full power of Heaven's Slave, their consciousness was shattered. They were now mindless slaves.

In the entire school, only three people still had their consciousness. One of them was the headmaster, the one who controlled the slaves; the other was Sona, who had been saved by Issei and the other was Issei himself, who was immune to all poisons, because of his Sky Poison Pearl.

As soon as the great elders arrived, they didn't stop for a moment as all of them rushed towards Issei. Facing the newcomers, Issei coolly cursed as around his body, black smoke started to appear. In a second, all of the great elders had their cultivation bases reduced by over seven levels.

In that moment, Issei turned around and faced the weakest elder, who now only had the cultivation of the sixth level of the True Profound Realm.

"Heavenly Strike!" Issei roared as he performed the third level of the Heavenly Double Swords Might. In front of his blades, two arcs of pure, blinding, energy formed, before striking towards the great elder.

In a single second, the elder was cut into four pieces as blood splattered all around, covering Issei's body. The boy, however, didn't seem fazed by it as he faced the remaining nineteen elders.

If it were any normal situation, the nineteen elders would be surprised when faced with such a scene, but they were no longer themselves. Their consciousness was shattered, and their souls destroyed. All that was left were empty shells that Yua Ling could control however he wanted.

As he faced the remaining elders, Issei's eyes sparkled with lightning. His hair grew longer and gradually became of a light azure color. The joints in his body made popping sounds as he grew slightly taller. Around him, lightning arcs began to condensed.

Lightning Incarnation Overdrive!

Using his life force as fuel, Issei's power experienced a huge leap. Around him, the lightning started growing thicker and denser, as he started to increase the amount of life force he used as fuel. His eyes then flashed with a cold light as he disappeared, becoming a streak of lightning.

In single second, Issei's body appeared right behind a group of six elders. In the next moment, all of their bodies fell to the ground, as their heads were sent flying. Without even giving them the time to breath, Issei approached another group of elders.

"Heavenly Strike!" Issei's blade, that were now coated in lightning, danced in the dark night, creating two huge lightning arcs. These arcs were at least five meters tall as they slashed towards a group of elders. As soon as they came into contact, their bodies instantly turned black as they were completely charred in seconds.

In ten seconds, the entire group of twenty great elders was slaughtered by a single boy in the sixth level of the True Profound Realm!

After finishing slaying the last one, Issei turned around to face Yua Ling. Behind Issei, the ground was covered in blood, as body parts were scattered all over. All of the surrounding buildings in the area had already been completely obliterated by the aftereffects of the battle.

Issei's eyes were even colder and sharper, and as soon as Yua Ling saw it, a tremor rang in his body. He had underestimated this kid... he had vastly underestimated him!

Cursing, Yua Ling roared, "Heaven's Slave, Complete Take Over!"

In the moment he uttered such words, every disciple and elder of the Heavenly Might School, who were all in their way towards the head's courtyard, had their bodies shaken as their eyes gradually lost their pupils, only leaving the sclera behind.

Before, although difficult, it was still possible for them to regain their consciousness through the use of expensive medicines. Now, however, their mind and spirit broke, and they became senseless husks in every sense of the word. At this moment, they were no different from puppets.

As soon as that happened, they began to burn their life force, per Yua Ling's command, making their speed increase.

Just as Issei was about to step forward, in the area that separated him from Yua Ling, countless figures flashed. In a single second, over three hundred different cultivators appeared between him and Yua Ling.

All of their eyes were white, and their bodies completely ready for battle. These three hundred disciples were all core disciples and elders, who managed to arrive first since they were closer. As for the inner disciples and the outer disciples, they were still on their way.

Issei's eyes widened as he faced the army of core disciples. Not only that, he could feel the fast approaching figures of inner disciples and outer disciples.

Taking a deep breath, Issei was about to activate the poison ability of the Sky Poison Pearl, but before he could, a warning suddenly reached his ears in the form of a wizened, old and monotone voice.

"Reached daily amount of poison. If surpassed, poison ability will be lost in the future."

Hearing such words, Issei cursed slightly. Although he was currently maddened right now, if needed to, he could still make decisions. And, sacrificing his poison ability just like that wouldn't be the correct path to take.

As such, Issei could only resort to the only other thing that he could sacrifice – His life force! Issei closed his eyes, and felt the burning vitality within him. Without an ounce of hesitation, he gathered over two hundred years worth of live and burned them down!

As soon as he increased the fuel, the lightning around Issei grew erratic. Popping sounds rang all over his body as he became even taller, his muscles, that were non-existent, surfaced, tightening his clothes. His hair grew longer, now reaching his feet. Issei's eyes were now shining with azure light as his skin began to crack.

The air around him shattered as lightning arc after lightning arc formed around him. Before, they were only a few centimeters wide and thick, but right now, they were already over one meter in length and half a meter wide! Not only that, there were countless of those running across Issei's body.

In that moment, Issei didn't look human anymore. As of that moment, he was akin to Lightning God! The true sovereign of Nature's most destructive and overwhelming force, lightning!

Gan Jiang and Mo Ye, which were held in Issei's hand, started to hum in excitement as they trembled. The vibrations around them were visible by the naked eye, and it was truly a terrifying scene. The lightning around Issei slowly began to coat both blades, encircling them in countless bolts!

The ground beneath Issei shattered, as splinters started to fly up into the air. He then took a step forward, and before Yua Ling could even understand what was happening, Issei was standing in front of a core disciple.

*Whoosh ~! *

Gan Jiang and Mo Ye slashed, and in a single go, over ten disciples and elders had their bodies bisected. Just like that, Issei entered into the crowd of enemy cultivators, slashing his blade left and right, taking dozens of lives with each strike.

If someone looked at this scene from above, all they would see would be a bolt of lightning flashing around the place, as blood splattered everywhere. No one would believe that this bolt of lightning was actually a human!

Issei's eyes were cold as he slaughtered. It didn't matter if it was an elder in the peak of the True Profound Realm, or a core disciple in the middle-stages of the True Profound Realm, they would all meet the same ending when faced with Issei's blade – DEATH!

While slaughtering countless disciples, just as Issei was about to slash his blade down again, he suddenly stopped. At this moment, the one who stood in front of him was no longer a stranger, but instead, it was a member of the Water Devil Alliance, Nimu Ruru.

Although Issei rarely interacted with the other members aside from Sa Ji and Sona, all of them had a special place in his heart. So, he was able to instantly recognize the petite, brown-haired girl.

His blade, that was about to strike down, suddenly stopped as he gazed into Ruru's eyes. She no longer looked like the lively young girl, but instead, was like a mindless zombie. Her pupils had disappeared, and her eyes were completely white.

As soon as she saw Issei's movements falter, the saber in her hands slashed forward, directly towards Issei's heart. In that moment, Issei snapped out of it and quickly side-stepped. As he gazed at Nimu Ruru, he needed to suppress the pain in his heart.

With a soft voice, Issei whispered, "I'm sorry."

In the next second, his swords slashed down, cleanly piercing Ruru's heart. In less than a second, her body fell to the ground. She would never get up again.

As he looked at the fallen body of his fried, Issei suppressed the pain in his heart. Killing strangers was a thing and slaughtering friends was another. When he killed his loved ones, he was shattering all of their emotions and the times that they had spent together. He was killing a part of his own soul.

As he looked at the fallen body of the girl, he suddenly side-stepped, as he dodged the attack that came from a core disciple. Steeling his nerves, Issei's eyes hardened as he went back to slaughtering. In that moment, he could only console himself with a single thought.

All that he was doing was killing what was already dead.

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	67. Issei's Oath!

**Info:**

 **Cultivation Realms – Elementary Profound Realm, Nascent Profound Realm, True Profound Realm, Spirit Profound Realm, Earth Profound Realm, Sky Profound Realm, Emperor Profound Realm, Tyrant Profound Realm, Sovereign Profound Realm, Saint Profound Realm and Divine Profound Realm.**

 **World Spiritist Levels – White-Cloak, Gray-Cloak, Blue-Cloak, Purple-Cloak, Gold-Cloak.**

 **Profound System Ranks - Low Ranked Profound System, Medium Ranked Profound System, High Ranked Profound System, Special Ranked Profound System, Legendary Ranked Profound System, Ultimate Ranked Profound System and Heavenly Ranked Profound System.**

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 **Chapter 67 - Issei's Oath!**

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Yua Ling had mentioned that if he completely released the Heaven's Slave drug, then everyone would forever lose their consciousness, never to regain it again. In layman's term, it means that they would die, but their body would not rot.

They would become empty husks, with no conscience of their own. They wouldn't be able to control their actions, nor would they be able to think. They would simply become puppets.

As such, Issei used that thought to console himself.

"They are already dead..." Issei murmured as he continued slashing his blades around. After a couple more minutes, in front of him, Tsubaki appeared. Like Ruru, her eyes were muddy, and she had a blank look on her face as she held a rapier, directly slashing it at Issei.

Looking at her, Issei's eyes widened as sadness appeared on them, before he closed them and slashed down. From his eyes, small tears formed and began to slowly travel down his bloodied face.

"She's already dead... I'm not killing her..." He reassured himself. At the same time, he turned around and parried another strike from a core disciple. While this happened, his hatred for Yua Ling soared to new heights. Until now, he had already been forced to end the lives of two of his friends... Even if Issei had to sacrifice his life, Yua Ling wasn't getting out of this place alive.

Following that, more and more disciples arrived. The school had over ten thousand disciples in total, and it was only after a few hours that he managed to slaughter them all. In a time-span of a couple of hours, Issei, alone, faced against an army of ten thousand disciples and won.

During this time, he had killed and killed. His friends, enemies, strangers and everyone else all met the same cruel fate - death. The Water Devil Alliance was no more, as all of the members, with the exception of Sona and Sa Ji, had already been killed.

At this moment, from the army of over ten thousand disciples and elders, the only one who remained was Sa Ji. His face was blank and his eyes were similar to the eyes of everyone that had been aftected by the Heave's Slave drug – bleak, alone and desolate.

He was holding a spear in his hands as he charged towards Issei, stepping over countless bodies in the process. Just as he was about to reach Issei, the younger boy's hand struck out and pierced his chest.

"Senior Brother, I'm sorry..." Issei murmured as he gazed at the slowly closing eyes of Sa Ji. During this moment of distraction, he felt a tense feeling of death behind him.

"Die!" Yua Ling screamed in rage as he jumped forward, a spear in his hands as he dashed towards Issei with all his might. He knew that in a direct confrontation, Issei could swat him like a fly, so he was waiting for a moment like thise one. And, it seemed that his plan had succeeded!

However, his plan failed as just as his strike was about to reach, a person appeared behind Issei's back, with her arm wide open, shielding the younger boy. Yua Ling could no longer stop his momentum, and his blade pierced open the chest of the person that had rushed to Issei's rescue.

Issei's eyes slowly turned around, only to see the spear penetrating deep within Sona's chest, completely piercing her heart. Terror filled Issei's eyes, as he watched as the light in Sona's eyes slowly faded away.

"I'm sorry... Junior Brother..." Sona murmured, before her body fell to the ground. Behind her, Yua Ling pulled his spear back as he retreated a few steps back, a maddened look on his face as he realized that his surprised attack had been intercepted.

Issei, however, didn't go after him as his body kept still, looking down at his Senior Sister's body. Slowly, he crouched down, and raised up her heads. Her face had a sad look, full of pain, and her eyes were still open, filled with suffering.

Without saying a single word, Issei's hand gently passed by Sona's face, closing her eyes. Afterward, he slowly let her body fall down to the ground. He wasn't naive, and he understood that even with the Sky Poison Pearl, she was beyond saving. Resurrection just wasn't possible.

His eyes grew colder and sharper as his anger exploded outwards. In a split second, from his body, an earth-shattering pressure erupted.

Blood-lust, blood-thirst, killing intent and spiritual power all mixed together into a single, heretic pressure that fell down on Yua Ling. Instantly, his knees gave in and he knelt on the ground, the pressure being too much for him to handle.

Issei's face was as cold as ice, and his eyes were murderous as he took slow steps towards Yua Ling's downed figure. Each step he took shook the ground, and with each passing second, his eyes grew colder.

When he reached Yua Ling's body, he crouched down and grabbed his throat before lifting up his body. The look in Issei's eyes could freeze someone to death as he started to tighten his grip.

The headmaster, although currently in this horrible position, suddenly laughed, "And to think.. that the downfall of my entire school would be brought upon by a single boy..."

Issei, however, shook his head as he spoke in a voice that could sever iron and chop nails.

"You brought it yourself." As he said so, he strengthened his grip, making Yua Ling cough up blood in his face.

Yua Ling simply smirked, a maddened and crazy smile appearing on his face, "Well, now that my school is destroyed, I have no more reason to live..." He suddenly stopped as his eyes grew crazier, "So, I'll bring you down with me!"

As he said so, his hands, that were hanging limply by his sides, suddenly struck forward, clashing against Issei's chest. As soon as the hand hit his chest, Issei's eyes widened as he felt his dantian and profound veins shake.

He immediately released Yua Ling and jumped a few steps back. His eyes were widened, an expression of terror in his face. "What did you do?!" Issei roared as he turned around to look at Yua Ling. However, what he saw, made him flabbergasted.

Previously, Yua Ling looked like someone in his mid-forties, and was exceedingly handsome. Right now, however, he was at least in his mid to late eighties. His hair, that was once lush and black, was now thin and white, and the few strains that remained were already falling down.

His face was now impossible to recognize, full of wrinkles. His body also shrank, getting smaller. Right now, he looked exactly like an emaciated old man.

Issei's eyes widened. That was burning of live force! However, that was true, complete burning of live force! In that single moment, he simply threw away his life force?!

Seeing the look in Issei's face, Yua Ling, who was by now an old man, only a single step away from death's door, suddenly roared in laughter.

"I told you... that I'd be dragging you down with me. The skill that I just used was the Cultivation Demon Severing. By sacrificing all of the user's life force, it's possible to forever cripple the target, by completely breaking his profound system."

Even while the words left Yua Ling's mouth, Issei's eyes widened as he heard popping sound all over his body. One by one, his profound veins burst open and shattered. Cracks started to appear all over his dantian and all of the cultivation that he had spent years and years to acquire withered away.

Fifth level, fourth level, third level of the Nascent Realm... tenth level of the Elementary Profound Realm, ninth level, eighth level... in the time-span of ten seconds, his cultivation base, that was on the peak of the sixth level of the Nascent Profound Realm ceased to exist. He no longer had even a sliver of spiritual energy within his body, and his entire profound system was crippled.

His dantian had burst open, and all of his profound veins had shattered, being burst open. This meant... that even if Issei tried, from this moment onwards, it would be impossible for him to ever cultivate again! He was now just like a mortal!

While this happened, his appearance slowly retreated to normal. He no longer looked like a Lightning God, but now seemed like a mortal child, who didn't even have the means to defend himself. In front of him, Yua Ling's life force had already been fully absorbed. His skin had already faded, and all that was left behind was his snow-white bones.

Issei had managed to kill him, but the price he paid was far too great. He had lost all of his years of progress in seconds, and could not cultivate any longer. Faced with such change in events, tears started to stream down Issei's face.

Slowly, the light in Issei's eyes grew dim, as he lost all of his mirth. His cultivation... lost. His friends... dead, killed by him. His hopes... shattered. In a single day, everything that he had accumulated in his entire life, be it his friends or cultivation, was stolen from him.

Lost... empty... hollow... sad...angered... Emotions started to wash over Issei, as his mind was blazing, trying to comprehend what was happening. In reality, he just couldn't accept it. He couldn't resign himself to the cruel fate that everything that had happened so far... all of his memories and experiences... simply faded away.

This... Issei believed that such a thing could not happen by coincidence. This was just ridiculous... madly ridiculous. In that moment, he reached a conclusion that somewhere, up there, there was someone pulling the strings. And, he believed that being that cruel and despicable being to be the Heaven's itself.

"Why?" He murmured as he coughed up a mouthful of blood, while at the same time falling to his knees. "Why? Why? Why?!"

He kept mumbling, his eyes blank as he stared up at the sky, his arms hanging limply by his sides.

"Heavens, why must you be so cruel?!" Issei murmured. "You first made me a slave, and made me suffer.

After that, you gave me talent, you gave me power, only to take that away from me.

Then, you gave me friends, only to have me kill them myself!" Issei roared at his surroundings. At this moment, he looked up and cried. "Heavens, just what did I do to you?!"

His body was bloodied, and his face was one of extreme anger and unwillingness.

"I don't understand... Is my life just a game?! A game that you can do as you please?!" Issei continued as the anger in his heart grew bigger. "Do you think that you can simply do as you want? Do you think that you are allowed to simply play around with me?!"

His eyes were maddened, and a crazed look took over his figure. At this moment, Issei slapped his chest hard. "DO YOU THINK YOU CAN JUST FOOL AROUND WITH ME, ISSEI!?"

His eyes then grew dark as he mumbled, "No... no, you can't. You can't. You can't. You can't."

"You took everything away from me, but so what?!" Madness rose in his eyes, as a crazed, wicked smile took over his features. "You rendered me useless, but so what?!"

He then looked up at the skies, and roared from the top of his lungs, "I WILL NOT GIVE UP!"

Slapping his chest once more, Issei exclaimed. "You made me suffer... but I'll have my revenge. Yes, revenge. Revenge... Revenge against Heaven!"

"Every suffering I went through.. every blow dealt to me... I'll pay them back... a million times over!"

A look of determination suddenly sparkled in Issei's maddened eyes. "Heavens, from this moment onwards, you and I are over!"

"My path, from now on, is to go against you!"

"You crippled my cultivation, but don't think that will stop me! I'll rise to the peak of the world, and when I do, I'll go up there and face you! I swear that I will not die until I have my revenge!"

Issei then closed his eyes, only to open them again, burning with a will to defy, passion and anger. At this moment, he swore the oath that would forever change his life. The oath that would mark the beginning of his path. The oath that he would follow, no matter what!

"Heavens, I'll go against you! Heavens, I'll defy you! Heavens, I'll destroy you!"

"My Path, from now on, is the path of defiance!"

"I'll go against the Heavens!"

Issei then slapped his chest hard once more as he lifted up his head high and roared with all of his might.

"I'LL DEFY THE HEAVENS!"

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	68. Red-Haired Beauty

**Info:**

 **Cultivation Realms – Elementary Profound Realm, Nascent Profound Realm, True Profound Realm, Spirit Profound Realm, Earth Profound Realm, Sky Profound Realm, Emperor Profound Realm, Tyrant Profound Realm, Sovereign Profound Realm, Saint Profound Realm and Divine Profound Realm.**

 **World Spiritist Levels – White-Cloak, Gray-Cloak, Blue-Cloak, Purple-Cloak, Gold-Cloak.**

 **Profound System Ranks - Low Ranked Profound System, Medium Ranked Profound System, High Ranked Profound System, Special Ranked Profound System, Legendary Ranked Profound System, Ultimate Ranked Profound System and Heavenly Ranked Profound System.**

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 **Chapter 68 - Red-Haired Beauty**

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(I posted FIVE chapters today. If you haven't read them yet, please go back to the start of chapter 64. Today, I posted chapter 64-65-66-67-68)

After Issei swore defiance to the heavens, his eyes, that were dull, started to lighten up again. It was as if his desire for revenge, his desire for defiance, his desire for slaughter, had given him the energy he needed.

Slowly, he lifted up his bloodied body from the ground, a resolute look in his eyes as he turned around to look at what remained of the Heavenly Might School.

Most of the buildings in the core disciple area had been destroyed, and mountains of corpses piled up the ground. Everywhere you looked, you would see gore, blood and body parts.

Issei looked around the scene of mayhem, searching for something. After he finally saw it, using what remained from his strength, he walked to the body of one of the members of the Water Devil Alliance. Reaching up to it, he used his hands to dig a whole, and afterward, laid the body on the ground.

When killing the members of the Water Devil Alliance, he had made sure to not sever any of their body parts. At the very least, he wanted to let them rest with a full corpse.

As he buried the corpse, he spoke some words of prayers, before turning around to search for another corpse. In less than two hours, all of the bodies from the members of the Water Devil Alliance, with the exception of Sona had been properly buried and prayed to, all of them close to one another. Together in life, together in death.

As he held Sona's lifeless body in his arms, he sighed as he steeled his emotions, holding back the tears. He didn't have the time for weaknesses. Right now, he must press forward!

Steeling his nerves, he dug her grave before letting her rest inside. Afterward, he closed it and took a step back before kneeling down on the ground, right in front of the graves belonging to the members of the Water Devil Alliance.

He then kowtowed three times, banging his head against the ground fiercely each time. By the end, his forehead bled, but the look in his face was resolute as he said one last prayer, this time for all of them.

He then turned around, and while he did so, he closed his eyes, burying his feelings of pain and sadness deep within his eyes. Right now, he didn't have the time for such feelings. He buried all of the feelings he had deep within his heart, never to surface again.

As of this moment, his primary objective was to survive! Before he began his quest of defying the Heavens, he must first get his profound veins and dantian restored. Those were his primary objectives.

So, with his unbendable will, unmatchable determination and tenacious desire to defy the heavens, he kept moving forward. He walked out of the territory of the Heavenly Might School, and entered the forest near the Heavenly Might School.

Although he knew that he could return to Shinso's castle, he had no intention to. He had decided that the path he would take was one which he would rely on himself alone. If he kept relying on others, then he would no grow. He needed to challenge himself and keep pressing forward!

As such, he entered the forest. He also knew that staying behind in the Heavenly Might School wasn't an option. After all, sooner or later, people would come to investigate, and he couldn't afford to be near when that happens. Furthermore, people could come at any second, so he had to leave as soon as possible.

As such, he determined that the forest would be the best place to rest for the time being. To be more specific, he was planning to head back to the cave where he found the Sky Poison Pearl. At the very least, there, he would be able to rest and start planning how he should proceed from now on.

As such, while making sure to not get caught by profound beasts on the way and ignoring the pain that he felt, Issei finally managed to arrive at the cave. Thanks to his eidetic memory, he didn't have too much troubles in finding the path back to the cave.

Upon arriving, he quickly rushed within the cave, as it had started to rain a little while back, and he was in a hurry to get himself dry. During his rush, he failed to notice something on the ground, right in in the center of the cave, and tripped over it, falling to the ground.

If it were the previous him, he never would have fallen after tripping, as his reflexes would be enhanced and he would be able to easily regain his balance. However, at this moment, he was no different from a mortal.

*Splash~ *

Issei's body crashed against the ground, but instead of hitting the dark, cold ground, he seemed to have hit some liquid of sorts, given the sound and the cold feeling that he felt.

"Huh?" Issei's eyes widened as he slowly sat up in the ground, near the pool of liquid. Grabbing some of it with his hands, although it was too dark for him to see, he discovered that it was thick, and most definitely, it wasn't water. He then brought it close to his nose and smelled it.

Metallic!

Issei's eyes widened. This liquid... must be blood! Then the thing he tripped on... Issei's pupils constricted as he hurried back to the place where he supposed that was where he tripped. Just as he thought, when he touched the area near it, he felt the cold sensation of skin.

However, he quickly retracted his hands as soon as they came into contact. That was because, when he touched the substance, although it was obviously skin, it was overwhelmingly cold, freezing even. There wasn't even an ounce of warmth. Not only that, he also felt a dense, threatening, poisonous aura.

Well, poisonous would be looking down on it. It was extremely, highly toxic, much more so that what he had ever seen. Even while having the Sky Poison Pearl in his possession, he still felt threatened by such aura.

Just... just what kind of poison was this?

Issei's interest was piqued, so he quickly looked around for some wood. Thankfully, within the cave, there were still some dried up pieces of woods. After a while, he managed to make a small torch, while using cloth that he had ripped from his robes as fuel.

He immediately walked over to what he supposed to be a corpse, and placed the torch on the area above it, making the dim, faint light of the torch reveal the body. However, the moment it happened, Issei almost lost hold of his torch.

The corpse, that he imagined to be some decomposed old man or something... was, actually, a girl!

The girl looked to be in her teens, around twelve years old, and wore a messy, red dress. Her body was small and cute, and it was currently curled up in fetal position. Below the skirt's hem were two slender snow white legs, that seemed completely unblemished. However, upon closer inspection, one would be able to see that they were actually covered in little, faint, scars. She wore one black shoe on her left foot, while her right foot was bare. Her naked foot was like a delicate ice lotus and her exquisite toes were delicate and clear.

Not only that, she also had another important detail. Her hair was red colored! It was unexpectedly like that of an evil demon's unholy bright red color! Issei was surprised, as he had never seen this color of hair before.

However, if that was all, it wouldn't be enough to surprise Issei that much. No, what surprised her was her features. Even when compared to Xia Mei, the heavenly beauty, she was superior! Much more superior at that!

The girl, although young, was extremely, utterly beautiful. So beautiful that it frightened him. It was as if she was the personification of beauty itself and if he hadn't seen her with his own eyes, he would never have believed that such a young girl could unexpectedly release such thrilling charm.

Blood-red hair, a face akin to white jade, each of her facial features were all consummately beautiful and all of them combined together made her unbelievably perfect. Even Issei, who was used to Xia Mei, a beauty that no one could ever hope to match, was rendered speechless.

At this moment, she looked young, probably only twelve to thirteen at the moment. If she grew up to adulthood, when a woman's beauty reaches its peak... that would be simply unimaginable! Maybe then, she could literally reach the levels of causing continents to plunge into chaos with a single smile!

Issei, however, although young, wasn't any simply man, and he was only mesmerized for a slight second. He quickly regained his composure and started to closely analyze the girl. For some reason... he was getting bad vibes from her.

At that moment, he noticed some slight movements in her chest area. Although borderline imperceptible, Issei's trained eyes easily noticed it, which caused his eyes to widen.

She was alive! That movement...was obviously the action of breathing!

Immediately, he sat down on the ground, near her body, and placed his palms on her chest, right above her heart. He then concentrated a little, and the mark of the Sky Poison Pearl appeared in his hands. He then channeled the Pearl's healing power into the girl's body. Slowly but surely, it started to purify the poison in the girl's body.

As this happened, the movement in her chest area got more perceptible, and color was slowly returning to her face. After a while, she slowly began to open her eyes, one by one.

Her eyes were of a pitch-black, mesmerizing, deep, onyx color. As soon as Issei met her gaze, he felt a horror equal to that of falling down a deep abyss… that gave his heart a fright! This feeling... it was even more terrifying the tyrannic aura that Xia Mei had!

This girl who was extremely poisonous, who seemed to be nothing more than a corpse a moment ago, and had a deathly cold body… had now opened her eyes!

The slowly girl reached out her jade-like, delicate, right hand and, in the next second, with strength that shouldn't belong to someone in her state, fiercely grasped it. She then moved her lips and let out a voice.

"Sky Poison…Pearl..."

While Issei was still surprised at what was happening, and had his guard off, the girl quickly opened her cherry-like mouth and bit hard of his index and middle finger.

Slowly, blood start to flow from his two fingers, all of it being completely sucked by the girl, who appeared to be in a trance. With widened eyes, Issei tried to pull his hand back, but it was of no use, as although her hand was seemingly delicate and fragile, her grip was as strong as iron, much stronger than anything that had even seen, as she bit him while holding his hand tightly in place, unwilling to let go. He tried a bit more, but in the end, Issei could only give up and let her slowly suck his blood.

However, it was at that moment that Issei finally realized some important information. She was sucking his blood! Sucking his blood! Could she be... a vampire, just like Shinso?!

Even after a couple of minutes, the girl showed no intentions to stop, and he started to get dizzy. After all, he was now a mortal. After losing so much blood, he was bound to be affected. Thankfully, while he was wondering if he would be sucked dry by this unknown girl, and his journey would be forced to end in this pitiful, ridiculous way, the feeling in his hand disappeared.

The pain that he was feeling in his fingers dissipated, and he felt the girl's grip on his hands relax slightly, giving him the opportunity to free himself.

Issei quickly stepped back as soon as he saw the chance, a wary look in his eyes as he gazed at this mysterious, impossibly beautiful girl. After sucking his blood, she simply laid back on the ground, and went back to her immobile state. Even after waiting for quite some time, the girl didn't do anything, and just like when Issei first saw her, she was just laying there with her eyes closed, breathing only slightly.

*Whoosh~~~~ *

A cold gust of night wind suddenly passed by, originating from the cave's entrance, brushing against Issei's back and the girl's body. In the cold wind, the girl's body scattered with the wind like mist, dissolving in small particles, before completely vanishing from sight, leaving behind her dress, shoes and a hair clip.

Issei's eyes widened. His first thought was teleportation, but he soon shook it off. It was as if she had faded away... simply disappeared!

At that moment, he suddenly felt a weird sensation coming from his left palm. His eyes then widened... Could it be?... He then closed his eyes and moved his consciousness to the inner world of the Sky Poison Pearl.

Within it, he saw the usual endless plane of green. The world was boundless, and it infinitely extended in all directions. Within it, there was only supposed to be a few thousands of cosmos sack, brought together in a mountain - His spoils of war. Obviously, they included the cosmos sacks left behind by the school's twenty great elder, the headmaster and most of the ones owned by the core and inner disciples.

When he left, Issei made sure to make the best out of the situation, and he wasn't about to leave without getting anything. In the end, he couldn't open them, since it required spiritual power, something that he was currently lacking. In the future, however, once he managed to restore his profound system, he would be able to open them and get the rewards he much desired for.

However, aside from the huge pile of cosmos sacks, that piled up into the sky, there was another thing within. Laying in the ground, right next to the pile, was a red-haired girl, in all of her naked glory.

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 **Either way, just some things. From now on, the story will pick up the pace, and now that Issei has an objective, something to seek, the story will get much more interesting from now.**

 **Now, I hope that you continued with me in this journey!**

 **Also, about killing everyone... I just felt that that was necessary. Sometimes, as a writer, you have to do somethings that you don't like in order to make the story flow properly, and this was one of such things. So, please, don't get too angry at me. If you have any flames, please PM them, I don't like people spamming the reviews page with flames...**

 **Also, I know that that part was dark, but don't worry, I'm not going to let my story become like Game Of Thrones and kill everyone. This will probably be the biggest genocide of main character in the entire story.**

 **Also, Monday, I'll be changing the story's name to "Defying The Heavens." I'll also be changing the summary, but I don't know how much I should change... If any of you have any suggestions of a new summary, please don't hesitate on telling me. I appreciate all opinions.**

 **As for the story's image, I'm still searching for a new one... Again, if you have any suggestions, please send me them!**

 **One last time, thank you for all of your support in this arc, and I guarantee that the story will only keep getting better and better!**


	69. Living In The Wild

**Info:**

 **Cultivation Realms – Elementary Profound Realm, Nascent Profound Realm, True Profound Realm, Spirit Profound Realm, Earth Profound Realm, Sky Profound Realm, Emperor Profound Realm, Tyrant Profound Realm, Sovereign Profound Realm, Saint Profound Realm and Divine Profound Realm.**

 **World Spiritist Levels – White-Cloak, Gray-Cloak, Blue-Cloak, Purple-Cloak, Gold-Cloak.**

 **Profound System Ranks - Low Ranked Profound System, Medium Ranked Profound System, High Ranked Profound System, Special Ranked Profound System, Legendary Ranked Profound System, Ultimate Ranked Profound System and Heavenly Ranked Profound System.**

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 **Chapter 69 - Living In The Wild**

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(Quick announcement. On the previous chapters (56,57,58,64,65,65,67), I messed up the levels. Yua Ling (Headmaster), Long Tian (Number one core disciple) and the elders weren't in the Earth Profound Realm, they were in the Spirit Profound Realm. I already went back and changed it, but please keep that in mind.)

Issei looked at the naked for of them girl and sighed. Now that he could see her without clothes, he reached the conclusion that her body was just as perfect as her face. Although undeveloped, it still had an alluring charm.

Still, Issei was a person with self-control, and didn't like to act rashly. As such, he looked around a bit inside the Sky Poison Pearl, and got some robes that were left behind by some of his kills. He then laid the robes on top of her, in order to cover her body.

Looking at the covered girl, Issei nodded. "This should do for now..."

Afterward, he went over to her and shook her shoulders slightly, intending to wake her up. Sadly, even after a while of constant shaking, it proved that his efforts were for naught, as it appeared that the girl was in deep, deep sleep.

Giving up, Issei moved back and gazed at the girl with a complex look. "You first suck my blood, and then come to MY inner world to rest... aren't you a bit too ungrateful?"

Not only did he save her, he even let her suck his blood! After that, he didn't even try kicking her out of the Sky Poison Pearl, and even then, she wouldn't wake up... Such a troublesome person.

Sighing, Issei could only shake his head as he retracted his consciousness from the world of the Sky Poison Pearl. When he opened his eyes again, he was back in the cave. Near him was what remained of the peerless beauty's clothing.

Shrugging his shoulders, Issei waved his hands, and also stored those pieces of clothing inside. Who knows? Maybe they are made from some rare, expensive material... If that was the case, how could Issei not loot it?

After taking care of that, Issei looked around the cave once more, before finally settling to laying his back against the wall, resting on the ground. He then waited for the rain to end. While he did so, he also began to ponder over what he should do for now.

"Alright... I must first find a way to deal with my profound veins and dantian..." While he said that, he sent his consciousness inside his body in order to check for the damages. When he saw the dire situation, he was surprised.

His profound veins were completely burst, and his dantian was cracked open. Facing such a situation, Issei could only shake his head in dismay.

"Maybe... it would be easier for me to just get myself new profound veins and dantian, huh?" Issei murmured. Given the situation inside his body, he figured that healing it would be border-line impossible.

"But, still... how should I get my hands on new ones?" Issei mused out loud. "Should I try killing a cultivator, ripping out his profound system and replacing it with my own?"

However, as soon as Issei though of this idea, he shook his head. The plan was deemed to fail right from the beginning. How could he, Issei, who had no actual strength, defeat a cultivator? The only way would be if he got lucky and managed to find one injured, and on death's bed. Still, he wasn't really placing much faith in his luck. After all... the Heavens seemed to absolutely loath him. Well, at the very least, the feeling was mutual.

Sighing, Issei shook his head. "Before I worry about going back to cultivating, I must first find a way to survive."

Currently, Issei had no food, grains or water. If he was a cultivator, then eating once a month wouldn't really be a problem, since he could restore himself solely by using spiritual energy, but that was no longer the case. As a mortal, there was a limited number of days that he could spend without food ingestion.

"In this forest... there is bound to be some rabbits or deers... I should probably hunt some for the time being." As he said such words, he was suddenly reminded of two very important things – Gang Jiang and Mo Ye.

Immediately, he looked down at his hands and saw that the marks were still there. Issei then thought of a possibility. Although it was necessary for him to use spiritual power to summon them, could there be some way to summon them without it?

Immediately, Issei sat down cross-legged and start to concentrate on the two swords. He slowly steadied his breathing, straightened his back and relaxed his body, entering an immersed state. Once he was in, he immediately began sending mental waves towards the swords.

"Come out... come out...come out.." Issei kept repeating, again and again. He had already learned that although faint, both swords possessed a consciousness of their own. Furthermore, it was extremely blood-thirsty... wait... Blood-thirsty?

Issei immediately thought of something, and tried a different approach. "If you come out, I promise that I'll kill a lot. I'll kill a bunch of animals and bath you in their blood... I promise, alright? So, please, just come out..."

Ironically enough, as soon as Issei said those words, his hands started to tremble as a vibrating sound filled the air. Soon, his hands flashed brightly, two swords appearing on them. One of them had a red-hexagon pattern while the other one had white-wave patterns. Gan Jiang and Mo Ye!

And, there was still more. When he looked at the swords, he could clearly sense the aura of a cultivator on the peak of the Nascent Profound Realm, which meant... that the swords hadn't lost their cultivation!

As soon as Issei noticed that, his eyes widened. If his swords were still on that level of power, then if he trained his body a little, it wouldn't be any problem killing a cultivator in the Elementary Profound Realm. If he did so, then he would also be able to get himself a brand new set of Profound Veins!

In that moment, Issei felt jubilant. A look of hope took over his eyes, and, at the same time, Issei got up from the ground and looked outside the cave, noticing that it had stopped raining. With a small smirk, Issei rushed out and delved inside the woods.

His prey? The first animal that he could find. Of course, he didn't wander around rashly, as he also knew that aside from wild animals, profound beasts inhabited the forest. To the current him, facing even a weak profound beast would be the same as courting death.

Thankfully, it seemed that lady luck was on his side, and it didn't take him long to find a deer wondering around. The deer was big, plump, and seemed to be filled with meat. As soon as Issei saw it, his mouth watered.

Without a second of hesitation, Issei jumped forward, slashing both swords at the deer in a cross-like manner. The poor animal, taken by surprise, didn't even know how he died.

A couple of hours later, Issei was back in his cave, which he had already deemed as his temporary home. In front of him was a small bonfire, and on top if was the corpse of the deer, that was already roasting.

Saliva dripped from the corner of his mouth as he gazed at the slowly roasting deer, full of hunger. He, who hadn't eaten in quite some time, was quite hungry. A couple of minutes later, Issei figured that it had already been roasted enough, so he took it out.

Afterward, since he was already proficient in swordsmanship, he easily managed to slice the deer up. Within, the meat was slightly raw, still dripping with some blood, but Issei couldn't care less as he threw a hung lump of meat in his mouth and started munching on it.

As expected, it was still rather raw, and since there wasn't any condiments, the taste was rather bland, but to Issei, it was absolutely heavenly. It's just like they say: If you're hungry, even stones taste good.

Some minutes later, Issei finally managed to fill his stomach, and was already full. The deer in front of him, however, still had much more meat left, probably enough for a few days. As mentioned before, it was a pretty big deer.

Issei wasn't one to waste food, so he quickly stored what remained inside the Sky Poison Pearl, since it had the ability to keep the things stored inside in the same state it had been the moment it was stored. Afterward, Issei rested for a while, before beginning to do some work-outs.

He started with push-up, then went to sit-ups and many other exercising methods that he could recall. Since he couldn't train his cultivation base, then he would train his body. That way, his chances of survival could at least increase.

...

...

...

It had already been one week, since the fall of Heavenly Might School, and Issei was still in his cave. Everyday, he would work-out, eat, work-out, eat and repeat, sleeping when he felt like it. During this period of time, his girly appearance was slowly diminishing, as some changes could be seen to his appearance.

His brown hair was now shorter, as it had been getting on his way when hunting. He had used Gan Jiang to get rid of most of it, and now, it wasn't even shoulder length. As for his body, his skin grew rougher, and his muscles more apparent. His face also began getting more wild, courtesy of living away from civilization.

During this period of time, Issei also began to increase his cooking skills by incorporating some herbs and plants into his dishes. Since he had vast knowledge on the many different kinds of plants out there, he figured that he would make use of it and started to search around the forest for plants he recognized.

Thankfully, the forest was full of plants and medicinal herbs, so he didn't have much trouble finding them. Afterward, what followed was a period of trial and error as he mixed the herbs with various kinds of meats, trying out new dishes. It must be noted that during this period, Issei's cooking skills, that were border-line non-existent, experienced a qualitative leap.

Aside from that, he also grew more adept at handling Gan Jiang and Mo Ye. Before, he would only rely on his swords once in a while, and wouldn't wield them all the time. Now, however, he used them every day, and began bonding even further with them.

Also, on the last few days, he began hunting for some low-level profound beasts. In terms of nutrients, profound beasts were much higher than wild animals, and they could also nourish their body. Their flesh was also tastier and their blood sweeter.

On this particular day, Issei was hunting near his cave for some elementary-level profound beasts. Once more, lady luck, that had been helping him a lot lately, gave him a helping hand, as in front of him, a small profound beast appeared.

It appeared to be only a few years old, and was still a child. Still, it's body was already half the size of Issei's, and it's fur was already spiky. From what Issei could recall, this profound beat was most likely a Dire Dark Wolf puppy.

Dire Dark Wolfs resembled normal wolves, but they were larger, their eyes were normally of a blood-red color and their fur was as black as the night. Their fangs were also sharper and their personality was much, much more ferocious.

Normally, the cultivation of an adult of such beats would be around the peak of the Nascent Profound Realm, sometimes reaching the True Profound Realm. This puppy, however, was only in the third level of the Elementary Profound Realm.

A grin flashed on Issei's face as he jumped forward, and slashed at the small Dire Dark Wolf. However, as soon as his blade was about to reach, a flash passed by his eyes, and in the next second, in front of him, a large shadow appeared.

Immediately, Issei jumped back, and in the place he had just been, a huge pawn appeared. Looking up, he saw that it belonged to another Dire Dark Wolf. This one, however, was much bigger, at least three times Issei's size, and the cultivation base was at a mind-blowing level – Peak Of The True Profound Realm!

Issei's eyes widened, before he cursed slightly. This kind of beast, in terms of battle prowess, was equal to a cultivator in the fourth realm, the Spirit Profound Realm! Issei then looked up at the skies and cursed slightly, "So much for lady Luck, huh?"

He then looked at his surroundings, searching for an escape route. Issei wasn't one to think to highly of himself, and knew that in a direct confrontation with this kind of beast, there were two possibilities – He would either be eaten alive or killed and then eaten. Sincerely, none of these two seemed to appealing to our young genius.

However, he seemed to have underestimated the profound beast, as just as soon as he was about to escape, it pounced on top of him. Before Issei could even more, its palm slashed forward.

"Crap!"

Issei's eyes widened, but it was already too late to dodge. Just as he was about to meet the end of his life, his left hand flashed, and in front of him, a figured appeared. Covering Issei's vision was blood-red hair.

In the next moment, the figure that appeared in front of him raised her hand, and lightly tapped onto the Dark Dire Wolf. In the same second, the body of the wolf exploded in countless little pieces.

With eyes widened to the size of dinner plates, Issei watched as the figure turned around to look at him, which revealed jade-white skin, heavenly features and dark, cold onyx-black eyes. This figure... was the little girl that he had previously saved!

 **Read & Review~!**


	70. Jasmine

**Info:**

 **Cultivation Realms – Elementary Profound Realm, Nascent Profound Realm, True Profound Realm, Spirit Profound Realm, Earth Profound Realm, Sky Profound Realm, Emperor Profound Realm, Tyrant Profound Realm, Sovereign Profound Realm, Saint Profound Realm and Divine Profound Realm.**

 **World Spiritist Levels – White-Cloak, Gray-Cloak, Blue-Cloak, Purple-Cloak, Gold-Cloak.**

 **Profound System Ranks - Low Ranked Profound System, Medium Ranked Profound System, High Ranked Profound System, Special Ranked Profound System, Legendary Ranked Profound System, Ultimate Ranked Profound System and Heavenly Ranked Profound System.**

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 **Chapter 70 - Jasmine**

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Issei gazed at the girl in front of him, flabbergasted. Did she just..explode a Dark Dire Wolf...? What the hell?! What kind of concept is this?! Even someone in the Earth profound Realm wouldn't be able to pull that off...

"Uuuuuu!"

Just as Issei was immersed in his thoughts, the girl that had just turned around to face him suddenly howled in pain as she fell to the ground and clutched her body, a painful look in her perfect features. Around her, the grass began to darken and her body started to shiver.

"Argh! This damnable Absolute God Slaying Poison… How dare it, making me, the princess… experience such a…. rebound… when only using this degree of power… Uuuu…." The girl started crying out in pain. While this happened, Issei also took a step back.

Absolute God Slaying Poison? Issei's interest was piqued. Could this poison be what reduced her to this state? Also, the way how she reefers to herself as princess.. could it be that she's a princess?

Issei then took a step forward and asked, "Hmm... Miss? Are you alright?" Obviously, Issei wouldn't call her little girl, as even in terms of physical appearance, she was older than him. Issei was only eleven while she seemed to be twelve or thirteen. Furthermore, given her cultivation level, maybe she was some old woman that managed to restore her youth? As such, Issei wasn't about to take any chances.

Hearing Issei's concerned voice, the girl suddenly stopped shivering as she looked up. She then stood up with difficulty and started to stare at him coldly with her dark eyes, seemingly assessing him. After a couple of minutes, she spoke in a crisp and cold tone, "And to think that the Sky Poison Pearl would actually choose a commoner like you as its master! You don't even have an ounce of spiritual power in your body! Don't tell me that it has lost its sense of reason and chose any passerby?!"

Her eyes, that were dark and cold, were incomparably arrogant, lofty and proud, as she seemed to be looking down on all in existence. Her face, flawless as it was, was morphed in an angry scowl, that didn't do anything to diminish her overwhelming beauty.

Issei, however, could only sigh at being called a random passerby with no cultivation. He had cultivation, well, used to... It just so happened that it was slightly crippled right now...

Even then, Issei didn't dare to rebuke her, afraid of the consequences. Obviously, this type of girl was someone that Issei truly couldn't afford to offend. Issei knew that with just a little thought on her part, he would already be on his way to the underworld.

So, he proceeded in a small and respectful tone, "Miss, I don't really get what you are saying. However, I still don't know your name... could you please tell me?"

Shinso had told Issei that when faced with a beauty, one must first figure out her name. He also gave a long and detailed explanation on why that should be done, but at the time, Issei was too lazy to pay attention on it, but he still remembered the fact that it was important. As such, he decided to trust his master.

Hearing Issei's question, the girl's expression didn't change in the slightest, her scowl still in her beautiful features. After a while, she moved her tender lips and muttered, "Jasmine."

"Jasmine?" Issei repeated before nodding. At the same time, his tongue slipped and some words escaped from his mouth, "Jasmines are cute and petite, have a nice aroma and are beautiful, without imperfections. It really suits her..."

As soon as those words left his mouth, Issei's eyes widened. "Crap.."

At the same time, the gaze of the young girl, Jasmine, grew colder "Without imperfections?!" Her scowl deepened, and a cold breeze passed by, causing her scarlet red hair to flutter in the air. At the same time, a small leaf fell on her hand, which was then grasped by her. "I am Jasmine, a Jasmine that has been dyed red with blood!"

As the girl said so, she loosened her grip, and the leaf that had been in her hand became a pile of tiny pieces, and got carried out of her hand by the wind.

Those tiny flakes, now dispersed in the wind, slowly passed by her body. At that moment, however, they didn't actually cling to her body, but instead passed right though and scattered in the space behind her.

Issei's pupils constricted as his eyes narrowed. The way that it simply passed through without obstructions... could it be that her body is ethereal? Issei then shook his head. No, she managed to grasp the left right now... could it be that she can touch what she wants, but can't be touched? So, a semi-ethereal body?

The girl then started speaking again, her cherry-like lips moving, "I have answered your question, now you answer mine. Just where did you find the Sky Poison Pearl?"

"In that cave," Issei said, not hiding the truth. Right now, he was starting to formulate a theory. Wasn't it just too strange that this girl appeared on the same place as the Sky Poison Pearl and knew of it? Then, most likely... the girl was in that cave for the Sky Poison Pearl, but had arrived there too late!

"I see..." She nodded before saying, "Then... if the Sky Poison Pearl is willing to fuse with a commoner like you, then it should definitely fuse with this princess!"

As Jasmine said such words, she waved her hands, and Issei was sent flying, ruthlessly crashing against a tree trunk. Jasmine also appeared in front of him, only a foot away, her eyes shining with murderous intent, her hand grasped on his throat.

"I'll give you two choices, commoner," The girl's features were giving off a terrifying blood-lust and killing intent, and each of her words sent chills down Issei's spine. "You can either hand me the Sky Poison Pearl here and now, or this princess can simply take it from your dead body after killing you."

Jasmine's hands, that seemed delicate, were using an almighty strength to grab his throat, the pressure increasing by each second. The grip was strong, and Issei couldn't move at all, and would soon begin to suffocate. Even then, however, a wild smirk appeared in Issei's face. "I choose the second choice. Please, kill me now."

Jasmine's eyes widened slightly before narrowing. "You think that this princess would not dare?"

While she spoke, she increased the pressure on her grip. Issei's face was starting to loose his blood, and getting ghastly white. However, he still kept his proud smirk, "Do you think that you can fool me? If you wished to kill me, then just now, you wouldn't have saved me, when there was a chance of the poison rebounding!"

Jasmine's eyes widened slightly, shock on her face.

Issei continued smirking as he explained, "Most likely, this Absolute God Slaying Poison you speak of not only affects your body, but also your soul! On that night that I saved you, your physical body was destroyed, and you became only a soul, tormented by the poison... am I right?"

Jasmine kept quiet, her eyes narrowing.

Noticing her expression, Issei continued, "I'll take that as a yes. Then, the body you have right now is only a semi-physical body, that was created by you sucking my blood the other day, while you borrowed the power of the Sky Poison Pearl, that fused with me! Which means.. My life is also your life. If you die, then to me, it would make no difference, but if I die, since you were created by my blood and my Sky Poison Pearl, then you would also perish!"

Reaching that point, Issei smirked slyly, "If I turn over the Sky Poison Pearl, then that would be akin to inviting my own death, wouldn't it?"

Jasmine's eyes flashed with shock, and she slowly loosened her grip on Issei's throat, giving him some space to breath.

Immediately after being released, Issei started to cough intensely, the sounds echoing in the forest. On his last cough, a mouthful of blood came out, that splashed all over his clothes, tainting them in red. His face was pale, and extremely sickly.

Jasmine looked at his precarious condition with unconcerned eyes, as if it had nothing to do with her, as she asked, "It seems like you aren't any normal hairless monkey... How could you tell?"

Issei smirked slightly, the respectful expression on his face disappearing, replaced by the wild and rascal-like expression that he had gained during his days in the wild, "Well... I wasn't really sure, and that was only a gamble. Now, however, it seems like I was correct."

As Issei said, he wasn't sure of anything. Since he was unwilling to part with the Sky Poison Pearl, his most treasured possession, he could only throw caution into the wing and risk it all. Thankfully, it seemed that his theory that he had been thinking was correct all along. It was in moments like this that Issei was grateful for his blessed mind.

Jasmine's eyes narrowed, as she realized that she had fallen right into his trap! So, he was only gambling?! Rage started to burn in her eyes, but she couldn't attack him, as what he said was correct. Her life truly depended on his.

She then sighed. "You... tell this princess your name."

"I'm called Issei."

"Issei? Horrible name, quite fitting of a monkey like you," Jasmine nodded. "Then, Issei... this princess has an offer for you. I can see that your profound system was damaged recently, but the damage isn't small, and there's no way for you to heal it. Since I depend on your life, this princess can't be having you like this, or else I might die in any second. Then... I can restore your profound system, but I have some conditions."

Issei's eyes suddenly widened. Restore his profound system?! That was exactly what he needed right now. Immediately, he said, "What are the conditions?!"

Seeing the look in Issei's face, Jasmine smiled darkly, "First condition: You must promise this princess that you'll find this three items: A stalk of Netherworld Udumbara Flower, Three Profound Beast Core that are at least of the Tyrant Profound Beast level and at least thirty-five kilos of Purple Veined God Crystal. All of those are necessary for me to reconstruct my physical body."

Issei's expression suddenly changed. Netherworld Udumbara Flower.. he had never heard of such a thing before, but he knew about the Beast Cores and The Purple Veined God Crystal.

Beast Cores are, in layman's terms, a profound beast's heart. So, that meant that she wanted... the heart of three Tyrant Ranked Profound Beasts?! Issei almost cried out in surprise. Is she crazy?! Tyrant Ranked profound beasts... even someone in the Sovereign Profound Realm wouldn't be able to easily kill them!

And, the worst of all of all was the Purple Veined God Crystal... Firstly, there was something called Purple Veined Heaven Crystal. The Purple Veined Heaven Crystal was a huge treasure, a piece of it the size of a fingernail was invaluable and even if entire sects wasted all of their moneys, they wouldn't be able to acquire it. Even worse, the Purple Veined God Crystal was made from Purple Veined Heaven Crystal; a house-sized Purple Veined Heaven Crystal.. would only be enough to provide a Purple Veined God Crystal the size of a fingernail!

Imagine thirty five kilos of it... Just what kind of body was this girl trying to create, dammit?! Was she trying to become God or something?! Such an expensive motherf*cker!

Issei took in a deep breath as he said through gritted teeth, "Jasmine, please, don't kid with me.

"I'm serious!" Jasmine narrowed her eyes coldly. "This princess needs at least that much to build a barely passable body. If I don't have them, then how could I restore my power?!"

Taking in a deep breath, Issei nodded. "How much time do I have?"

"Thirty years."

Thirty? Issei breathed out sigh of relief. He believe that if he worked hard, then it would be possible to acquire it. "Alright. I agree to this condition."

Jasmine nodded with satisfaction before continuing, "Then, the second condition... You must reach the Sovereign Profound Realm within thirty years!"

Ah, so it's just the Sovereign Profound Realm.. Oh, that's easy... NOT!

"I'm not sure about the Profound Sky Continent… But, in the history of the Country Of The Nine Provinces... no one has ever attained the Sovereign Profound Realm within thirty years… Or to be more precise, no one has ever attained the Sovereign Profound Realm before." Issei took in a deep breath. However the corners of his lips twitched faintly, revealing the resentment in his heart.

"Then, will you agree or not?" Jasmine tilted her eyebrows as she asked coolly.

"I.. agree.." Issei replied after thinking for a moment, withdrawing the previous expressions he had on his face. He then sighed, "Your first condition, perhaps I still feel a bit apprehensive. However the second condition, doesn't really count as a condition to me. As for why I say that, no one in the history of the Country Of The Nine Provinces could attain Sovereign Profound Realm in thirty years. If I was given the same starting points as everyone else, I can easily break that record! I have the Sky Poison Pearl in my body, so if I lose to anyone on the in this country, then I wouldn't have the face to live with myself!"

"Thirty years to reach the Sovereign Profound Realm…I can do it!" Issei narrowed his eyes in half, his voice filled with determination.

He then thought over for a moment and asked, "Still, why do you want me to attain the Sovereign Profound Realm within thirty years?"

"A human's vitality is related to their own Profound Strength. This princess' weak body currently originates from your vitality. This princess wants to rebuild her body and retain her previous strength, so I must at least have the vitality of the Sovereign Profound Realm!" Jasmine said calmly.

Wait... At least the vitality of the Sovereign Profound Realm, then she could retain her strength after rebuilding her body and merging with her soul… In that case, this means… her previous strength…

Was above the Sovereign Profound Realm!?

Issei was about to say something, but thinking about it twice, he simply shook his shoulders. "You know what? I don't care anymore... Whatever..." Issei thought in his heart, as he finally gave up in trying to apply common-sense to his life.

Issei then looked at her again, "What about the third condition?"

"Kneel before me and call me master!" Jasmine exclaimed proudly.

"Oh? That's it?" Issei's eyes lazily rolled before he knelt down and said, "Disciple greets Master!"

When he raised his head up, he saw Jasmine looking at him with widened eyes. "You... don't you have any pride and dignity as a man?! How can you simply kneel down just like that?!"

Issei merely shook his shoulders in a nonchalant manner. "Pride and dignity are for the strong... I don't have the power, so I don't have the qualifications to possess them. If all it takes for me to gain power is to bow do to a little girl, then I'll gladly do it."

In this world, pride was greatly valued, and since young, males were taught that they should only kneel down to their parents and masters. According to the legend, man had gold under their knees or some bullsh*it like that...

Issei, however, didn't share such views. He was from another world, and there, there was no such thing as pride. There, you did whatever you could to survive, no matter the price. Even after coming to this world, Issei's view didn't change.

Hearing Issei's response, Jasmine's eyes narrowed, "You... you are simply a rascal. This princess doesn't know how to deal with you..."

As she said this, she waved her hands, and a drop of dark-red blood appeared in the tip of her fingers. "I said that I would restore your cultivation base... This princess is someone who follows her promises."

Issei's eyes narrowed as he looked at the little drop of blood. He was getting a bad, cruel feeling from it. "What's that?"

Jasmine smirked, "This... is the reason why I came to the Middle Realm, the reason why I was infected by this poison and also what will restore your cultivation base! This is the drop of Immortal blood that came from a True God of the Higher Realm, the most terrifying, and most lethal of all of the gods and the only one who survived the downfall of the Divine Era... this is the blood of the Evil God!"

 **Read & Review~!**

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 **A/N: Tonight I'll be changing the story's image, name and summary. Also, forget about what I said about end of arc 1. I decided that I'll extend arc 1 until a time-skip, and when it's finished, I'll continue the story in another fanfiction. So, in about 20-30 chapters.**


	71. The Lightning Descents

**Info:**

 **Cultivation Realms – Elementary Profound Realm, Nascent Profound Realm, True Profound Realm, Spirit Profound Realm, Earth Profound Realm, Sky Profound Realm, Emperor Profound Realm, Tyrant Profound Realm, Sovereign Profound Realm, Saint Profound Realm and Divine Profound Realm.**

 **World Spiritist Levels – White-Cloak, Gray-Cloak, Blue-Cloak, Purple-Cloak, Gold-Cloak.**

 **Profound System Ranks - Low Ranked Profound System, Medium Ranked Profound System, High Ranked Profound System, Special Ranked Profound System, Legendary Ranked Profound System, Ultimate Ranked Profound System and Heavenly Ranked Profound System.**

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 **Chapter 71 - The Lightning D** **escents**

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(By the way, I posted two chapters yesterday.)

As soon as Issei heard Jasmine's words, his eyes narrowed. In her sentence, although not too many people would actually notice it, she accidentally let out heaps of important information. For example, she said that she had come to the middle realm... obviously, she wasn't from the lower realm, so if what she said was true, then she could only be from the higher realm. Even if she was lying, the fact that she knew about the higher realm already meant that she wasn't simple at all.

Not only that, it seems like the gods have died, if he had interpreted her words correctly... Suddenly, the corner of Issei's lips curled upwards as his eyes shone with a mysterious glint. More than anything, he liked mysteries, and this, without a doubt, was one hell of a riddle.

Smiling lightly, Issei said, "Let's assume that what you said is true... how is that supposed to heal me?"

Hearing Issei's question, Jasmine's eyes showed a little bit of annoyance before she hmphed. "If you would let me finish, you would know!"

After saying that, she continued, "The Evil God... has already perished. During his downfall, he left a drop of his immortal blood. Within this drop was the source of this power... in other words, this is his legacy. Whoever acquires it would have the chance of becoming a second Evil God.

"If someone acquires this drop of immortal blood and fuse it with one's body, their profound system would suffer a mutation, and would then be able to generate the power of the Evil God!

"Back in the place that I came from, many people were able to find out about this legacy. Since this drop of blood could supposedly give one the power of the Evil God, a True God, many people thirsted for it, and thus, began to madly search for this one little drop. However, even after centuries of searching, no one could ever find it, and it was not until a couple of months ago that someone managed to find out the location of where the Evil God had perished. Afterward, the place was flooded with people, all of them hoping to find his remnants. Inadvertently, the legendary Immortal Blood was found, and everyone scrambled for it.. In the end, however, it fell into my hands."

Hearing this, the light in Issei's eyes shone brighter. More and more, it seemed that his theory was correct. This little girl... was most likely from the Higher Realm! He had never heard of this droplet of blood, and if this happened in his continent, than most likely, all of the powerhouses of various sects and clans would be searching for it... yet, everything was peaceful. So, this most likely happened... In the Higher Realm!

Reaching that conclusion, Issei decided to play along with it "So, they chased you because you possessed the blood of the Evil God?"

Hearing his question, Jasmine hmphed once more, and her eyes showed pure malice, while her voice was filled with loathing. "Those old guys... how dare they try to snatch this princess's possession?! They are simply courting death!

"Anyways, after I had acquired the blood, I was able to find out the hidden power within it, and it was completely different from my expectations! There wasn't even an ounce of destructive power! If one injected it within themselves, all it would do was to change the structure and attributes of the profound system, and even erase all of the built up spirit power that the person possessed! One would have to cultivate from the very start, and all those years that they spent cultivating would be thrown out of the window! One would have to train their self bit by bit!

"What people expected that was the power of a True God was non-existent. In fact, this drop of blood don't have anything to do with the Evil God attribute! At the very best, it's only a little bit more powerful that an ordinary profound system!"

"This princess can't afford to pay the price of losing all of my current powers erased just for a slightly better profound system! However, if I use it on you, then it would be much more fitting!" As Jasmine said this, she moved her finger, and the drop of dark-red blood that was hovering on top of it suddenly moved towards the front of Issei's chest.

"You are already a cripple who has no spiritual power whatsoever! After infusing with this little drop of immortal blood, your profound system will become the Evil God's profound system! Even though I don't feel much power coming from this drop of blood, there's still the chance that I'm overlooking a certain aspect of it, and there's some kind of power within. Even if there isn't, it would still allow you cultivate again!"

As soon as she finished speaking, her eyes flashed with a cruel light, and she lowered her snow-white wrist. Her delicate fingertips suddenly sent out a power wave, that stimulated the blood of the Evil God to pierce into Issei's chest. The pit of Issei's chest split open in an instant, revealing a bloodstain. The sinister scarlet blood droplet then touched Issei's overflowing bloodstream and in a flash, entered his body.

Before Issei could even have the time to reach, his skin started to shine, as tens of blood-red crimson streaks surfaced in his skin, which then began to pulsate. The crimson lines wildly fanned throughout his body, originating from the bloody imprint in his chest. In a single instant, his whole body was covered. His chest, hands, legs, face and even his pupils were full of blood-colored channels akin to demonic markings.

While that happened, Issei's eyes widened, as he felt as if he was being stabbed by hundreds of thousands of blades. Intense pain beamed from every corner of his body, and he had never wanted to scream so much in his life. His body started to tremble, before he fell to the ground and started to convulse. His vision turned crimson, and he was unable to see any more.

Inside his body, the droplet of blood had entered his profound veins, and was starting to devour them. His profound veins, that had been burst open, were now being slowly ripped apart and shredded by this little drop of blood. It was quite easy to imagine just how painful Issei was feeling.

Even then, however, Issei didn't scream. Jasmine had mentioned that this blood would give him a new chance in life... it would rebirth his profound veins and give him even more powerful ones! This would once more give him the strength to challenge the Heavens!

So, with gritted teeth, Issei slowly forced himself to stop convulsing. Slowly, he lifted his body up, and while enduring the uncanny pain, he sat down cross-legged in the floor of the forest, and began to meditate. In order to enhance the process and make sure that it had the maximum efficiency, Issei had to cooperate with the drop!

Although it was the most painful existence in his entire life, he carried on with it. If it meant that he could get his revenge on the Heavens, then even if he had to die a million times over, then he would gladly do it with a smile on his face!

If it was for revenge, even if he had to throw himself in a battle field against a thousand men, then he would do it while laughing! If it was for the sake of his revenge, than he would do everything! This pain... it only a trifling matter! This was Issei's unshakable determination to defy the heavens!

While Issei struggled, by his side, Jasmine's eyes widened. Obviously, she had always known about the absurd amount of pain that would come with the process. The blood would would mince one's profound veins, devour them, cut it and then mince it again. It was akin to inhumane torture, a pain so big that even she would scream out.

However, even when faced with this pain, not only was Issei capable of not screaming out, he even had the power to stop his trembling and to begin cultivating! Just what was this?! What kind of willpower was that?!

Jasmine clearly knew that even a powerhouse in the Divine Profound Real would scream out! Dammit, even her father wouldn't be able to handle this in the same way that Issei was!

Slowly, one minute... three minute... five minutes passed, and Issei still had yet to scream! His face was now calm, and even excitement could be spotted in his handsome features. By this point, Jasmine's eyes were completely widened, her mouth was agape and she was left panting as she stared at this mortal boy, who was probably only two years younger than her.

His profound veins were being devoured, minced over, shredded... and yet, he didn't utter a single sound! This boy... that should have been an ordinary mortal... who had fused with the Sky Poison Pearl... just what kind of being was him?!

In that moment, Jasmine realized that she had completely looked down on him. His body may be fragile and weak, his cultivation may be non-existent, but at the same time, he had terrifying willpower! So much that it left her, Jasmine, astonished!

At this moment, she understood that the Sky Poison Pearl hadn't lost its spiritual power.. it hadn't chosen any random passerby... the boy in front of her was completely worthy of receiving the Sky Poison Pearl's recognition! Just his willpower alone could shatter the Heavens!

Slowly, a quarter of an hour went by...

At that time, the demonic lines all over Issei's body were twinkling with pure red light, and were shining brighter than ever. His profound veins had already been completely devoured... what followed was the reconstruction of the new ones.

At this moment, Issei's eyes that were closed narrowed. This was the moment of truth... After this, he would be able to find out whether or not his particular characteristic of having eight hundred and sixty four Profound Entrances would still maintain even after the transformation...

He knew that the prospects of that happening weren't high, but there was still some hope. From what he could see, the blood wasn't exactly destroying his profound veins... it was absorbing them, and infusing its own essence within them, only to rebuild them later on. If that was truly the case, then his profound veins would remain the same as they were before, with the only difference being extra attributes of the Evil God... This, without a doubt, was the outcome that Issei desired the most.

Thankfully, the construction of his new set of profound veins wasn't painful, and it was quite a pleasant feeling. Within his body, he could slowly feel a new set of profound veins being formed, and the growth speed was fast, and least ten times faster than the speed they were absorbed. The hollow feeling that he felt when they were absorbed was then replaced by a feeling of fullness.

While this happened, Issei sent his conscious inside his body, and concentrated on his new set. His eyes brimmed with excitement as he started to count how many of his original Profound Entrances would be carried over in this transformation.

One.. ten... twenty...forty...fifty four...fifty five... When Issei saw the fifty fifth one appearing, a smile appeared on his face. Cultivators, be it humans, vampires or elves, could only have fifty four Profound Entrances. The fact that it was already on fifty five most likely meant that it would go all the way.

Just as he thought, when his profound veins finally finished their reconstruction, instead of having the normal fifty four profound entrances, he once more had the mind-blowing number of over eight hundred and sixty-four! From the eight-hundred and sixty-four, a total of eleven opened. That was the number that was naturally opened... speaking from a standpoint of talent, it was only slightly above mediocre. Even then, Issei didn't worry too much. Soon enough, these eleven would soon multiply...

Still, Issei didn't dare to relax, as he knew that this wasn't over. Only his profound veins were rebuilt... there was still his dantian left! Issei quickly sent his consciousness towards his physical dantian, and saw the droplet of blood quickly approaching it.

His dantian was full of cracks, and there were parts burst open. While Issei waited for the droplet to reach it, he suddenly caught sight of something. Amidst the countless recent injuries in his dantian, there seemed to be a faint crack... this crack, however, seemed much older... at least eleven years old, which would be... Issei's age.

Before he could think too much into it, the droplet of blood reached his dantian and enveloped it. Slowly, it began to absorb his dantian in the same manner that it had done to his profound veins. The process was slow, and even more painful than when his profound veins were being devoured...

After a couple of minutes, the dantian was no longer there, and what existed was only the droplet of blood, that was now much bigger, the same size as his previous dantian, and occupied the same position. At this moment, something surprising happened.

When the blood droplet was reconstructing his profound veins, it would only walk through his body, and would leave behind a set of new profound veins, but it wouldn't become a profound vein itself. This time, however, the droplet of blood started to slowly harden, and slowly, it lost its liquid-like appearance.

In a couple of minutes, it was completely hardened, and looked exactly like his previous dantian, except that it was now red, in contrast to his white dantian, and was also without a single blemish. Issei's eyes widened as he realized that the droplet of blood had absorbed his own dantian and used its structure to reconstruct itself and become a new dantian for him...

Now that the process was over, Issei slowly opened his eyes, and gazed at Jasmine, who was standing in front of him with a shocked look on her face. She then coughed slightly, and was about to say something, but before she could, the rumbling sound of thunder filled the air.

The sky suddenly darkened, and up above, thunderclouds started to form. Issei's eyebrows tilted upwards... it was only the middle of the day a couple of minutes ago.. just what was happening?

At the same time, up high in the thunder clouds, lights began to shine. These lights weren't of any normal color.. they were in total 9-colored lights lingering in the sky, and it was dazzling. Slowly, the thunder clouds and the lightning began to slowly expand. Firstly, it covered the entire forest. Then, the entire region. Then, it began to cover the entire Azure Province.

It didn't stop there as it continued getting larger and larger, before it reached the Blue Wind Nation, and the provinces near the Azure Province. As if it wasn't enough, the thunder clouds kept getting bigger, until it covered half of the entire Country Of The Nine Provinces, the entire Blue Wind Nation, and the two other nations near it, the Navy Tide Nation and the Black Fiend Nation.

The black clouds of thunder were like a drop of black paint that had been dropped in a bucket of water, and it kept constantly increasing in size, engulfing everything in their way.

This takes quite some time to describe, but it only happened in a matter of minutes. The thunder clouds kept increasing at a speed of thousands of kilometers every minute, and the nine colored lights above only kept getting more and more ferocious.

When the 9-colored lights reach their zenith, the thunder clouds had already enveloped the eight nations that together formed the Profound Sky Continent. In less than ten minutes, the thunder clouds that originated right above the forest where Issei was, managed to cover the entire continent.

While this happened, in many places of the continent, everyone was observing the thunder clouds with interest, fear and desire. It didn't matter if it were commoners or even emperors and kings, everyone gazed at the Thunder Clouds.

In the Divine Phoenix Empire, Feng Henkong looked outside of his window, a dark look in his eyes. In his arms laid a young girl, around eleven years old, that was nuzzling against his chest, peacefuly sleeping. Behind the man, there were two, huge, flaming eyes.

"Exalted Phoenix God, is that...?" The emperor of the Divine Phoenix Empire, Feng Henkong, glanced back at the two eyes that stood behind him, which also gazed at the thunder clouds in the sky.

"No, it isn't the decent of a Divine Body... it is... the awakening of a bloodline..." A wizened voice came out of the shadows, as it also gazed towards the thunder clouds in the sky. No one could figure out what it was thinking.

"Henkong... these clouds come from the Azure Province... send your men there and search for whoever caused this. If it's a boy, marry him to little Xue'er. If it's a girl, bring her to our sect. No matter what, we must get whoever this person is into our family..."

Feng Henkong nodded, a resolute look in his face. "It shall be done."

He then looked at the little girl that peacefully slept in his arm and smiled lightly. "Little Xue'er, I think that I have found someone worthy of you..."

Meanwhile, throughout the entire continent, many similar scenes took place. In the Blue Wind Nation, the emperor, Cang Wanhe, laid in his bed. His face was pale and sickly, and although he looked weak, there was an excited gleam in his eyes.

Sitting on a chair, next to his bed, was a girl, no older than fourteen, that gazed along with her father towards the window, directly at the thunder clouds. Her skin was fair, and she looked just like a fairy. She was the only princess of the Blue Wind Nation, Cang Yue.

"Royal father... what is happening?" She asked in a timid voice, not taking her eyes away from the window.

"We don't know, my daughter... We don't don't know..." The king shook his head slightly. At the same time, he touched his ear slightly and said in a low voice while coughing sickly. His face seemed to get a little older, and his features more ancient.

"Send people to the Azure Province and find the Divine Body."

At the same time, on the summit of the Imperial City in the Nine Provinces, an old man in golden clothes stood with his hands behind his back, looking up at the sky.

Behind him stood tens of thousands of experts, the one with the lowest cultivation being in the Sky Profound Realm. All of them were half-knelt, as if waiting for some command.

Suddenly, the thunder clouds all over the continent trembled, and the 9-colored lights in all of them immediately condensed in a single spot, right above the Azure Province. They then formed into a 9-colored lightning, that came striking down from above the river of stars and the Heavens.

At that moment, the black night became a white day, as the entire continent, which was millions upon millions of kilometers wide, was completely covered in a blinding white light. Even before the lightning reached the ground, the earth rumbled and trembled, and thousands of buildings all over the continent collapsed.

However, the moment the 9-colored lightning collided, it didn't do any terrifying damage. Instead, it disappeared, as if had never existed. At the same moment, the thunder clouds in the sky recoiled and then dispersed, and everything returned to normal. However, the stars, that had been shining brightly before the thunder had appeared, darkened quite a bit, as if some important essence had been removed from them.

The old man's eyes were shining with an eerie light, and his body kept trembling. He pointed towards the location in which the lightning had landed with his trembling index finger, "Bring me all the infants born tonight in the Azure Province back to the Imperial City!"

"Yes sir!"

The response, that was akin to a thunder clap, resonated past the horizon as thousands of experts cultivators disappeared into the night, all of them headed towards the Azure Province. On that night, they swore that they would find the Divine Body!

Meanwhile, in the entire continent, every single power sent out people to the Azure Province. All of the Seven Nations sent their own best cultivators into the Azure Province, in hope to find the person that had caused such large events.

While all of this happened throughout the continent, a couple of minutes before the lightning had struck down, Issei was also gazing at the thunder clouds, next to Jasmine.

"Why am I getting a bad feeling from this?" Issei murmured, a dark look in his face. No matter how much he looked at the thunder clouds, he had a feeling that it would only bring him trouble... At the same time, however, he felt as if there was something connecting him to it.

By his side, Jasmine stood quietly before her eyes suddenly widened. Immediately, her body faded way, and entered the Sky Poison Pearl. Issei, who was by the side, noticed her strange actions. Just as he was about to ask what had happened, the 9-colored lightning formed. And, its position was right above Issei.

"You must be freaking kidding me..." Issei's eyes widened, and before he could do anything, the nine-colored lightning struck down, falling directly on top of him.

…

….

…...

At the same time, in a far-away place, away from the country of the Nine Provinces, deep within a dark room, two eyes opened. Within those eyes was a dark glint, but it also contained excitement, and, strangely enough, fatherly love. Those eyes showed deep ancientness, and more than anything, boundless power.

"My son... you have finally awakened your lineage. Although it is one year later than it should be, it shouldn't matter... I hope that one day you'll be able to reach the peak... When you do, I'll be waiting here for you..."

The eyes then closed again, and the room was once more plunged into deep darkness.

 **Read & Review~!**

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 **A/N: For some reason, this chapter was pretty fun to write... Well, I hope you guys liked it! Also, this will be the only chapter today, as it was almost 4k words. Why did I extend it? Well, I figured that this chapter would be much better if written this way.**


	72. Ruthless Jasmine

**Info:**

 **Cultivation Realms – Elementary Profound Realm, Nascent Profound Realm, True Profound Realm, Spirit Profound Realm, Earth Profound Realm, Sky Profound Realm, Emperor Profound Realm, Tyrant Profound Realm, Sovereign Profound Realm, Saint Profound Realm and Divine Profound Realm.**

 **World Spiritist Levels – White-Cloak, Gray-Cloak, Blue-Cloak, Purple-Cloak, Gold-Cloak.**

 **Profound System Ranks - Low Ranked Profound System, Medium Ranked Profound System, High Ranked Profound System, Special Ranked Profound System, Legendary Ranked Profound System, Ultimate Ranked Profound System and Heavenly Ranked Profound System.**

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 **Chapter 72 - Ruthless Jasmine**

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As soon as the lightning collided against Issei's body, it dissolved into thousands of tiny particles, that flew into his bloodstream. The thousands of feet long, and full of energy, lightning, just like that, entered Issei's body, completely disappearing.

Within his body, the lightning didn't stop at the bloodstream. It carried on, slowly reaching his profound veins. Once there, they went along with the flow, before reaching his modified dantian. Once inside, all of the lightning settled down, and started to take shapes.

The lightning, that was originally a nine-colored surge of heavenly power slowly changed. Each of the color separated from the others, becoming individual existences. Then, they slowly began taking shape, and before long, each of them assumed the form of different lightning beasts. Each color represented a different beast, and in total, there were nine of them now residing in Issei's dantian.

Soon after forming, all of the beasts, as if struck by a sudden sleepiness, closed their eyes, entering deep slumber, peacefully residing in Issei's dantian, claiming it as their home.

While all of this happened, outside, Issei's situation was nothing short of horrible. If having his profound system completely shredded apart and dissolved could already be considered painful enough to bring an expert of the Sovereign Profound Realm to his knees, than there was just no explaining just how painful this was.

Issei's body rolled on the ground, and from his opened mouth, thousands of blood-curling screams rang out in the forest, echoing far into the distance. His eyes were bleeding, and his entire body was uncontrollably shaking.

His current sensation was as if thousands of miniatures blades were constantly piercing his skin and shredding his insides, before mending them and once more shredding. No matter how much Issei's resistance was, he just couldn't take it as calmly as when he absorbed the Immortal drop of blood.

Not only that, Issei was completely taken off-guard. If he could have known beforehand that something like this would happen, then he never would have let out such screams. Sadly, fate wasn't so merciful, as he had no way to prepare himself.

It was only five minutes later that his mouth closed and his screams ended, as it was also at that time that the lightning beasts settled down to sleep. From Issei's robe, only his lower body clothing remained, his hair was disheveled and his eyes were blood-shot. It was a miracle that he even managed to remain conscious.

However, lady luck seemed to have disowned him this very day, as as soon as he managed to get rid of the lingering pain, Jasmine's voice rang in his mind.

"Oi, brat, hurry up and get away from this place. This princess doesn't want to get caught."

Huh? Issei looked around, but he didn't see anything. Just what was Jasmine talking about?

"Jasmine?" Issei concentrated in his mind, trying to mentally send his message.

Within the Sky Poison Pearl, Jasmine stood up in anger. " .Already."

Seeing that, Issei's eyes widened before he turned around and started running. "Alright, I get it." He then stopped for a while before continuing. "Still, what am I running from?"

"Useless male, can't even sense the obvious stuff!" Jasmine cursed as her eyes grew enraged. "Heading in our direction, right now, is over three million cultivators of various countries!"

"Three millions?!" Issei steps suddenly staggered, as he almost face-planed the ground. "THREE MILLIONS?!"

"If you dare to scream again, then I swear that this princess will kill you!" Jasmine cursed as she had to resist the urge to simply kill him there and then. "Now, get going already! Run back to the cave!"

"The cave?" Issei's eyebrow cocked up, but he nonetheless went along with Her Highness' wishes and headed towards the cave. Although he had no idea what a single cave was able to against an army of three million cultivators, he knew better than to question Jasmine's orders.

A couple of minutes later, Issei finally managed to reach it. Once inside, he sat down in the middle and looked around. Just as he was about to ask what to do next, Jasmine's voice shook his mind.

"What the hell are you doing?!"

"Huh?" Issei quickly stood up as he sent her a mental message, that he had already grown used to sending. "Wasn't I supposed to go the cave…?"

"Yes you are, you moron! But, why are you leisurely sitting down! Continue inside!" Jasmine body stood up in the inner world of the Sky Poison Pearl, clearly annoyed. "If you don't get moving, then don't blame me if.."

"Alright, alright!" Issei got up and looked around and rushed deeper inside until he reached a wall. "What now?"

"Are you blind?! Continue forward!"

"Huh?" Issei looked at the wall in front of him with a strange look. "But, if.."

"Goddammit! Must this princess do everything around here?!" Jasmine's beautiful eyes showed annoyance as she suddenly disappeared from the Sky Poison Pearl's inner world. Not even a second later, Issei felt danger coming from his back.

Before he could even react, his buttocks were ruthlessly kicked by Jasmine's round-house kick as he was sent flying, going directly towards the wall. Just as he was about to smash against it, however, his body continued moving forward, as he simply phased through the wall.

"Huh?" Issei's eyes widened, as his body kept moving forward, light entering his eyes. In the next moment, he crashed against a boulder.

*Crack! *

A rather unnatural sound filled the air as Issei's back ruthlessly collided against the boulder, his spine nearly breaking in half. His body then slid to the ground, where it stayed motionlessly.

Back in the place where the wall had been, Jasmine's eyes narrowed in annoyance as she stepped onto the other side of the wall. Once inside, she turned around and her hands flashed. In front of her, the wall solidified, no longer only a projection.

"I swear, this princess has gotten such a troublesome host..." Her eyes rolled in annoyance before she stormed to where Issei was laying, before kicking his head.

"Oi, get up."

"No..." Issei's body shook slightly before he moved his hands to protect his head from Jasmine's cruel feet. "Let me rest a little…."

"Rest this princess's ass!" Jasmine's eyes narrowed before she grabbed him by his collar without much effort and threw him in the other direction.

With a splash, Issei's body landed on a pond, not too far away. As soon as he felt the cold water, his eyes that were closed opened as fast as lightning as he began to move his body around, trying to stop himself from drowning. When he finally manged to reach the shore, he looked at Jasmine with hatred. "Are you trying to kill me?!"

Jasmine, however crossed her arms and turned around, huffing in annoyance. "Hmph, if this princess wanted to kill you, you would know."

With widened eyes, Issei gazed at Jasmine. "This girl.."

But, at that moment, he remembered something. He had just passed through a wall, hit a boulder and in the next second, fell in a pond.. just what was happening?! At that moment, Issei's eyes turned away from Jasmine as he gazed at his surroundings.

"Just where the hell am I…?" Issei's eyes widened. He was currently in a pond, a majestic waterfall in the end of it, surrounded by lush vegetation. Not too far away from him was a huge forest, filled with different kind of trees and vegetation. On the other side of the pond was a field of grass, with some boulders here and there, one of them with a big, red spot on it. His blood, he assumed.

Looking in the direction that he came from, he saw that it was the wall of a cliff, and he also noticed that he was standing in the middle of a valley, with two rock-walls in the far two ends. Looking up, there was also the sky, and it was currently day.

"Wasn't I in a cave just now? I don't remember the forest having such a huge valley..." Issei murmured as he kept glancing around, his prized intellect not being able to comprehend this crazy situation.

From the distance, Jasmine looked at his curious figure and sighed. "This boy.. I just can't leave him alone..." Her lips parted slightly as she slowly whispered to herself in annoyance before floating to the pond. Once near him, she called out.

"Oi, you're curious, right?" Jasmine's eyes glanced at him with obvious disapproval, obviously disappointed at his lack of knowledge. Her eyes seemed to be saying – Such a disgrace to cultivators…

Without even waiting for his reply, Jasmine's body slowly floated down from the air, and her tender feet stepped onto the pond's water surface, creating small ripples. "This place is a separate dimension, laid by the previous owner of the Sky Poison Pearl. In here, we should be safe. Even when I came here, if I hadn't paid enough attention, I would never have figured this place out, never mind the people outside. Hmph, their strongest member is only in the Tyrant Profound Realm.. such a bunch of weaklings. If I had my full power right now, I would just kill them all with a wave of my hands."

Once more, just from her words, Issei was rendered speechless. Firstly, what kind of cultivation level would a person need to be at in order to create such a boundless dimension… wait, never mind that, he had never even heard of it being possible to create separate dimensions! Also, people even in the Tyrant Realm were coming.. what kind of concept was this?! In the entire continent, the only places that could send of experts of that level would be the Divine Phoenix Empire… And, most important of all, she just called them weaklings that she could kill with a wave of hands. Just what kind of monster is this girl?! Is she really thirteen years old?! Or is she some old woman who cultivates some profound technique that allows eternal youth?

Getting his thoughts in order, Issei slowly got up from the pond and glanced at Jasmine, who was still standing on water as if it was nothing. "Jasmine… firstly, do you know why there are so many people coming here?"

"Why?" Jasmine's eyes narrowed. "How do you even have the gall to ask why?! It is all your fault for awakening your damned bloodline!" She then floated up from the water and walked over, until she was right in front of him, a strange look in her face. "Those clouds covered the entire continent! If they hadn't sent someone here, then I would be surprised!"

"Bloodline?" Issei's eyes widened as he took a step back in surprise. He had a bloodline?!

"Yeah, yeah, it's just some crappy stuff, nothing compared to me," Jasmine's waved her hands in disdain. "But, yes, you do have a bloodline, although I don't know where it is from..."

Issei nodded, deciding to drop the subject for now, knowing that he could just ask about it later on. He then straightened his back and asked the next question. "Alright, then, let me ask you something. How old are you this year?"

"Don't you know that it's impolite to ask the age of a woman?!" Jasmine's eyes showed rage, but she suddenly calmed down. "Alright, this princess sees no problem in telling you. This princess is thirteen years old this year."

"Thirteen thousand?" Issei suggested, clearly thinking that someone with her level of cultivation could never be so young. Dammit, she was only two years older than him and had the strength to swat people at the Tyrant Profound Realm like flies!

However, as soon as those words left his mouth, Jasmine's eyes narrowed darkly as she raised her right hand, fiercely slapping Issei's cheek, sending him flying back to the lake. "Thirteen thousand your granny! This princess is only thirteen years old! Thirteen!"

She then crossed her arms, hmphed once more, and lazily sat down in the border of the lake, her delicate feet lightly touching the water, as they moved back and forth. At the same time, the robes that she was wearing, which were many sizes too large from her, because she had gotten it from the many ones that were inside the Sky Poison Pearl, got wet, since it was in direct contact with the water.

Ignoring that, she simply sat there, her feet going to and fro in the water, as she waited for Issei to slowly, once more, get out of the lake and dry himself.

 **Read & Review~!**

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 **A/N: Hey guys, only one slight observation. Is it just me or were the dialogues in this chapter more natural? If you noticed some difference, tell me what you think. If you didn't, then it's just me seeing stuff.**


	73. Evil God Arts

**Info:**

 **Cultivation Realms – Elementary Profound Realm, Nascent Profound Realm, True Profound Realm, Spirit Profound Realm, Earth Profound Realm, Sky Profound Realm, Emperor Profound Realm, Tyrant Profound Realm, Sovereign Profound Realm, Saint Profound Realm and Divine Profound Realm.**

 **World Spiritist Levels – White-Cloak, Gray-Cloak, Blue-Cloak, Purple-Cloak, Gold-Cloak.**

 **Profound System Ranks - Low Ranked Profound System, Medium Ranked Profound System, High Ranked Profound System, Special Ranked Profound System, Legendary Ranked Profound System, Ultimate Ranked Profound System and Heavenly Ranked Profound System.**

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 **Chapter 73 - Evil God Arts**

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A couple of minutes later, Issei managed to get himself dry. Afterward, he walked over to the place where Jasmine was.

"So, Jasmine, what now?" Issei approached her while grinding his teeth, restraining himself to not punch a hole through her head. Well, even if he tried to, the one getting beaten would be him in the end.

"What now?" Jasmine turned around to face him. "Start cultivating, this princess needs you to stop being some useless dead weigh."

"Dead weight, huh?" Issei's eyes darkened slightly as he clenched his hands, murmuring slightly. "Alright, but first… can you tell me how my new profound system is different compared to normal ones? I don't really see anything different."

As Issei said, he had already checked it countless times while he dried himself. He just couldn't find any differences between his new profound system and his previous one, with the exception of the color. The locations of the profound entrances were the same as before, and in regards to attribute, it was no different from a normal human's profound veins. No matter how much he searched, he just couldn't find any difference.

Jasmine, however, ignored his question as she gazed at him with a little bit of curiosity. "How many Profound Entrances were opened?"

"Eleven," Issei sighed, but in his heart, he didn't mind it much. In a couple of minutes, this number would become eight hundred and sixty-four.

As soon as Jasmine heard such words, her eyes shined with disappointment and scorn. She then sighed as she kept her face monotone. "So what this princess paid her life for, in the end, was only enough to give you a small advantage. On your weak, mortal, body, this extent is most likely the limit. Did you really thing you could handle the power of gods? If you want to have any hopes of ever being able to use the special abilities of the Evil God's Profound System, then you must open all of the fifty-four Profound Entrances! If you had been able to innately open twenty or more of them, then I could still help you to achieve that in thirty years. However, with only trifling eleven of them opened, then even if this princess had all eternity to help you, it would be impossible for me to open all of them for you!"

"Oh, really?" The corner of Issei's lips curled upwards. Apparently, as long as he had fifty four profound entrances opened, then he would be able to bring out the evil god's true power. To him, with his abilities, such a matter couldn't even be considered troublesome. "So, if fifty-four of them were opened, then I would be able to bring out the Evil God's true power, huh?"

As he said such words, he sat down in the ground and placed his hand over the place where his dantian was. His eyes then shined with excitement as he exclaimed, "Sky Poison Purification!"

In the next moment, the Sky Poison Pearl's mark in Issei's hand flashed slightly, and a beam of dark-green light emitted from it, before entering Issei's body, soon after going through his Profound System.

In any normal occasion, the number of innately open Profound Entrances would determine how much a person could progress in their path of martial arts, mostly because it was nearly impossible to open Profound Entrances postnatally. It required extremely advanced medicine, fortuitous encounters, luck and many other different events in order to open even a single one of them. Not only that, trying to force them open came with extremely high-risks. Even the slightest damage could cripple you.

Even in the entire continent, the number of old powerhouses who managed to postnatally open more than six Profound Entrances could be counted in two hands. And, the ones who managed to open more than twelve were non-existent.

However, in front of the almighty Sky Poison Pearl, a Heavenly Profound Treasure, what were laws?! What were rules?! In front of it, all beings must bow down!

With its unrivaled and peerless purifying power, coupled with its secret skill, clearing all of the Profound Entrances was a simple deed, even easier than breathing. Not only that, it didn't came with any risks! Risk-free, efficient, quick and easy!

Under Issei's energy control, the purifying energy, coupled by the use of the exclusive skill, Issei managed to open countless Profound Entrances in only seconds, each of them making slight hissing sounds when opening.

Not even a minute later, fifty-four of the Profound Veins were opened. By this point, Jasmine, who was keeping close watch to the changes that were happening within him, was wide-eyed. Just as she thought that it was over, she discovered, much to her astonishment, that the purifying energy didn't stop. A couple of milliseconds later, she heard another slight sound.

"What?!" Jasmine's eyes widened as her thoughts were sent in turmoil. "How is this even…?"

Before she could even finish her sentence, a long string of hissing sounds followed. Quickly, it reached a hundred, then two hundreds, three hundreds, all the way into eight hundreds and sixty-four!

When this happened, Issei's eyes suddenly opened, revealing a joyful and relaxed expression. He lazily stretched his arms upwards and yawned. "Alright, all of the eight hundred and sixty-four Profound Entrances are opened. What next?"

However, even after he finished speaking, he didn't hear a response for a long time. Raising his head, he found that Jasmine's eyes were wide open and her mouth agape, as she gazed at him as if looking at some kind of freak. Noticing that, the smile in Issei's lips got even wider.

 _That's right, be amazed! Am I still such a worthless trash?!_ Issei thought triumphant in his heart, but in the real world, his expression was a curious and innocent one. "Hmm… Jasmine? Is everything fine?"

"You… how are… you.. Open all of them.. eight hundred..." Jasmine's mouth kept opening and closing, her eyes widened and her expression completely flabbergasted. Even after seeing it with her own eyes, she still couldn't bring herself to believe it.

After a while, she took in a deep breath and organized her thoughts. Her surprised expression was quickly repressed, replaced by her usual cold and lofty gaze. At the same time, however, she still showed more respect towards Issei.

"This princess has a question for you… and don't dare to lie. These eight hundred and sixty-four profound entrances… how do you have them?"

"It's something I was born with," Issei shook his head slightly as he raised his hands in innocence, "I didn't acquire them."

"Born with?" Jasmine's eyes widened before she murmured. "So, a mutation..."

She then shook her head. "Alright, enough about that. There is still something else… How were you able to open all of the Profound Entrances? Is it an ability of the Pearl, or..."

"Apparently, it's the Sky Poison Pearl's exclusive skill.."

"Exclusive Skill?!" Jasmine's eyes widened as she hurried over to where Issei was, her gaze penetrating deep within his eyes. "How were you able to acquire it?!"

"I got it from a senior..." Issei's eyes suddenly grew slightly sad as he thought of Jin Mo, who should have probably died by now. "But, still, you happen to know about exclusive skills?"

"How could this princess not know?!" Jasmine hmphed as she crossed her arms with disdain, slightly offended by his words. "All of the Heavenly Profound Treasures have a single Exclusive Skill with heaven-defying power that can only work with them. That's basic knowledge!"

"Basic knowledge?" Issei didn't know whether to laugh or to cry. In what world was this basic knowledge?! If it weren't for the fact that he had received the Sky Poison Pearl, then he feared that in his entire life, he would have never even heard of its name! The difference between them is truly huge…

"Well, this princess has had enough about that!" Jasmine's eyes suddenly turned cold, as if she was reminded of something. "You asked me about the special powers of the Evil God's Profound System, right?"

Being reminded of his question, Issei nodded. "Yes."

"Then, carefully examine your Profound System once more. Now that you have opened more than fifty four profound veins, it should be clear to you now."

"Huh?"

Issei shut his eyes, and sent his consciousness within his body, starting to once more make a thorough inspection on his Profound System. At first, he didn't notice anything strange, but after a while, he had a feeling that something was indeed different. In the next second, his focus locked onto the core of the profound veins, a place just above the dantian.

The profound veins inside a human were like a tree, with many branches spreading in all directions, most of them following the path of the veins and arteries, and on these branches, there would be Profound Entrances. As for the trunk, it would be the dantian, which was where every profound vein passed through. At the same time, however, the core position wasn't the trunk, but instead the roots, which were, strangely enough, above the trunk.

Normally, on the roots, there would never be any Profound Entrances, as that was the point where the Profound Veins formed, before going through the dantian and then scattering all of the body. On his, however, actually appeared seven imprints extremely similar to the Profound Entrances. Not only that, they assumed the arrangement of the Seven Stars of the Ursa Major. (Big Dipper, the star constellation)

Although they were indeed shaped and looked like Profound Entrances, at the same time, they had a different kind of aura to them when compared to normal profound entrances, but Issei just couldn't figure out the reason why they were so different.

Slowly opening his eyes, Issei gazed up at Jasmine, who was paying close attention to his every action. "How come I have seven additional Profound Entrances?"

"Those aren't profound entrances." Jasmine shook her head. "Those are used to activate the seven realms of the Evil God Arts… they are The Seven Gates!"

She then took in a deep breath and continued. "In simple terms, the profound system that the blood of the Evil God gave you is just like any other profound system; however, at the same time, it gives you a terrifying power, the Evil God's exclusive Profound Art, the Evil God Arts! This profound art has in total, has seven gates; it doesn't need to be developed nor cultivated, instead, it just exists within your profound veins. Every time you open a gate, the Evil God Arts will be increase by a realm! At the same time, in every realm of the Evil God Arts, there will be a corresponding peerless Evil God's Martial Skill!" Jasmine explained slowly and in layman's terms, as she was afraid that Issei wouldn't be able to comprehend it if she didn't simplify it. Even to this moment, she still looked down on him. Needless to say, that wouldn't last long.

Issei, however, kept quiet, as he slowly digested the information, making sure to not miss a single bit of info.

After living with Shinso for quite some time, Issei already knew the difference between Profound Arts and martial skills. In the Profound Sky Continent, almost half of the cultivators have raw spiritual power, instead of one filtered by Profound Arts. In layman's terms, Profound Arts are a type of cultivation method that is able to change the very nature of your spiritual power, bestowing it with magical properties.

Profound Arts were split into different categories, but there's one thing in common in all of them, and that is that none can strengthen the spiritual power directly. Most of them change the nature or attribute of the spiritual power, as mentioned previously. Of course, there can also be some variations.

For example, there are Profound Arts that when used, can transform the spiritual power into an ice-cold aura. The higher the level of cultivation of the Profound Art, the colder the spiritual power. Similarly, there is also one that can change the spiritual power into a burning hot yang energy. When trained to the peak, rumors say that one could use their hands to melt weapons.

As mentioned before, there are also Profound Arts that don't change the nature of the spiritual power, but instead can assist in the training of the profound strength or do some other stuff. For example there was a Yin Yang Combination Art which allowed men and women to raise their profound strength through sexual intercourse.

Normally, Profound Arts are usually inherited and passed down in Sects or family but were never divulged to the public; thus those wandering profound practitioners usually do not have profound arts, and only Martial Skills, which are so common that rank 1 and two martial skills can be easily bought.

After thinking for a couple of seconds, Issei finally managed to summarize everything in his mind, and kept the information engraved in his heart. He then glanced up at Jasmine, "So this means, now I can use the… 'Evil God Arts" that you mentioned?"

"That's right!" Jasmine nodded her head, "Your Profound System is still empty now so you couldn't feel it, but once you have spiritual power flowing within it, you will naturally feel the existence of the Evil God Art."

Issei then thought over for a bit and inquired, "… You also said just now, that this 'Evil God Art' did not need to be cultivated, and every time I open a gate, the Evil God Arts would increase by a realm. In that case, how do I open a Gate?"

Before, Issei had never even heard of such gates, so he had no idea on how to activate them. Also, if its method of opening was similar with the method of opening profound entrances, then he could effortlessly open all of them in a short period of time, allowing the Evil God Arts to reach the highest realm in an instant! In the hands of others, it was considered to be impossible, but in his hands, it was truly as easy as blinking. After all, he possessed the Sky Poison Pearl, one of the most overpowered things in existence.

"That's very simple; a thousand times much simpler than you opening all the profound entrances!" Jasmine started to smile with a very strange look on her face. Looking at the smile, Issei couldn't help but to feel a chill run down his spine. For some reason or another, he wasn't getting any good vibes from that seemingly sweet smile. "It belongs to your profound veins, so if you want to open it, it will naturally open… If you wish for it, you just have to think about it, and all of the seven gates will open in an instant!"

(Read the Author Note at the end)

 **Read & Review~!**

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 **A/N: Man, writing this type of chapter is BORING. Everything is information, lore, information... Argh! I'm getting tired of it! Worst of all, while doing this, I must keep right by my side the chapter of Against The Gods (Chinese novel) that explains this to make sure that I'm not missing anything! This almost feels like copying, and it sucks! Badly!**

 **Well, thankfully, the next chapter will be the last info-dump for a long, long time, so don't worry too much about it. From chapter 74 onwards, we will have constant action, so please bear with it until Thursday.**


	74. Horrible Bloodline

**Info:**

 **Cultivation Realms – Elementary Profound Realm, Nascent Profound Realm, True Profound Realm, Spirit Profound Realm, Earth Profound Realm, Sky Profound Realm, Emperor Profound Realm, Tyrant Profound Realm, Sovereign Profound Realm, Saint Profound Realm and Divine Profound Realm.**

 **World Spiritist Levels – White-Cloak, Gray-Cloak, Blue-Cloak, Purple-Cloak, Gold-Cloak.**

 **Profound System Ranks - Low Ranked Profound System, Medium Ranked Profound System, High Ranked Profound System, Special Ranked Profound System, Legendary Ranked Profound System, Ultimate Ranked Profound System and Heavenly Ranked Profound System.**

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 **Chapter 74 - Horrible Bloodline**

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Issei's eyes widened, as he just couldn't believe the words that Jasmine had said. All he had to do was to imagine it? To gain a fearsome power, a power of a True God, all he had to do was to desire it?!

However, upon seeing the strange, dangerous, smile on Jasmine's face, Issei realized that it definitely wasn't like she said. There definitely must be some kind of catch.

Cocking up his life eyebrow, he gazed at her with doubt. "That simple?"

With a smile still on her face, Jasmine nodded. "That's right, it's as simple as that. However, if you were to do that, then… You will die. Your body would explode, and your soul would be shattered into tiny bits. See? Simple, right?"

Issei's eyes widened, and his mouth opened slightly, only to close again, as he didn't know how he should even react to that sentence.

Looking at Issei's befuddled expression, Jasmine's smile widened a little more, before being replaced by her cold and aloof visage, obviously done toying with him. "Alright… I'll grace you with this princess's explanation..

"The attribute of the Evil God Arts abilities is considered "Berserk". The first realm is called [Evil Soul], the second realm is [Burning Heart], the third realm is [Purgatory], the fourth realm is [Rumbling Heaven] and the fifth realm is [Hades]."

Jasmine then stopped for a couple of seconds, as if unsure of whether or not she should mention what would come next. In the end, she decided to just say it all.

"As for the sixth and seventh realm, this princess doesn't know. All my information that I have here was acquired in the memory imprint left behind on that drop of immortal blood, and it happens to only record up to the fifth realm.

"Most likely, when the Evil God left the blood behind, he believed that the fifth realm would be the limit of the human body, and anything further than that would be tantamount to suicide. In other words, unless you want to die in a really painful way, then opening the sixth realm is absolutely impossible, as no body could ever hope to sustain such power. Therefore, he didn't leave behind any information regarding the last two realms, as he believed that it would be a waste.

"As for why it's impossible for someone to sustain the sixth and seventh realm… It's because every time you open a gate, the Evil God Arts will increase by one realm, and accompanying the increase in power, there will be an increase of stress that your body would not be able to bear.

"If you force the Evil God Arts to reach a realm that your body can't handle, in light cases, you would suffer vital damage and your life force would be heavily diminished, along with your vitality. In more serious cases, your profound system would implode and your would body would disintegrate into a haze of blood, resulting in the complete annihilation of the body and soul."

"With your current body… never mind the sixth and seventh gate, even opening the first gate would kill you in less than a second!"

Jasmine finally finished her explanation, letting Issei slowly digest everything that he had learned. After a while, he nodded slightly, and began inquiring on the things that weren't explained.

"Alright, I think that I understand a little… Still, what's the meaning of the "Berserk" Attribute of the Evil God Arts? In what realm must I be to use it?"

Hearing his question, Jasmine hmphed as she rolled her eyes disdainfully, a scornful look on her face. "You sure are ambitious! You have just gotten your new profound system, don't even has even a sliver of spiritual power, and are already thinking about using the Evil God Arts! Don't you know that before you can run, you must be able to walk?! There is an order in which things must be done!"

Even after being rebuked by Jasmine, Issei's expression didn't falter, as he had already gone used to such things. Wisely choosing to not retort, or continuing his questioning, he looked around at his surroundings before taking a deep breath. "Alright, I get your point. Although it's quite late, I won't waste time. I'll begin cultivating right now!"

Jasmine nodded upon hearing Issei's answer, noticing that he had already grown used to her antics. Sighing, she stood up from her sitting position as she crossed her arms. "I can see that you have cultivated before, and since you are already familiar with your body, I won't teach you how to enter the Elementary Profound Realm. Right now, I must return to the Sky Poison Pearl; you mustn't disturb be me for the next three days!"

Before, Jasmine had had to deal with the rebound effects of the Absolute God Slaying poison after having to use her spiritual power. Not only that, talking like this was taking a huge strain on her body and mind, as although the poison was being suppressed by the Sky Poison Pearl, it still allowed the poison to penetrate deeper into her soul. In order to stop the progress of the poison and to expel it, she must first calm down and meditate, which would help with the healing process.

However, just as Jasmine was about to fade away, Issei suddenly stopped her.

"Wait! Before you go, I still have one more question!" Issei hurriedly stood up and dashed in front of her to get her attention.

"What is it?" Jasmine crossed her arms and said coolly, with an impatient expression her beautiful visage. "Make it quick."

"Alright," Issei nodded as he adjusted his posture, facing Jasmine directly in the eyes. "It's regarding my bloodline that has awakened. While I searched through my profound system for any changes in it, I noticed that something had happened in my dantian. Although it was supposed to be empty, currently, there are nine lightning beasts within… do you have any idea on what they are? Are they something from the lightning?"

"Lightning beasts? In your dantian?" Jasmine's eyebrows cocked up as she lifted her left hand, placing it on Issei's forehead. In the next moment, her consciousness entered his body. After a couple of minutes, she saw it.

Within Issei's blood-red dantian, peacefully slumbering, were nine gigantic beasts clustered together. Their shape was inconsistent, constantly changing, and their colors varied, but all of them possessed deep, fathomless and boundless power. Even Jasmine, upon seeing it, was surprised.

"Who would have thought..." Jasmine's eyes shone with a surprised expression, as she lost her aloof and proud expression. "So that bloodline awakening was actually related to _that._ So this boy is actually from _that_ place…"

Looking at the beasts once more, to make sure that she hadn't interpreted them wrong, she nodded once more. "It's definitely from there, but still… they are much more powerful than they should be…. Just who is this boy?"

Shaking her head, she sighed. "Well, I can't be sure that it's from _that_ clan, but its definitely related to it… Still, even if I tell the brat this, it wouldn't make any difference… Instead, it would most likely lead to his death..."

She then retracted her consciousness, took a step back, and eyed Issei deep in the eye. "Don't worry about them, as they won't bring any harm to you. In fact, they aren't an external force… they are a part of you."

"A part of me?" Issei's expression turned surprised.

"Yes," Jasmine nodded. "You and them possess the same energy signature.. I believe that originally, those beasts were a part of you, born in your body, but someone extracted them. Now, somehow, they found their way back to their original body..."

"Wait, you mean.." Issei was about to ask, but without even bothering to hear Issei's question, Jasmine's figure suddenly vanished, as she teleported to the inside of the Sky Poison Pearl.

Seeing that his questions would be left unanswered, Issei could only grind his teeth as he swore in his heart. _One day, I'll definitely make this girl respect me!_

He then turned around and looked at his surroundings, trying to see what would be a suitable place for cultivation. After some time, his gaze locked onto the waterfall not too far away, and a sentence that Shinso had said long ago sprung up in his mind.

"An outstanding man is like a sharp blade, only when it is grounded will it become sharper!" Issei's lip parted slightly, as he repeated the words that he had learned long ago.

"Normal cultivators cultivate without risks; they get normal result. Above average cultivators risk some slight damage to themselves; they get above average result. High-leveled cultivators cultivate with many risks; they high-leveled results. Insane cultivators cultivate by risking their lives…. And they get insane results!"

As he said such words, Issei took a step forward and started walking towards the majestic waterfall far off into the distance as a resolute aura flashed in his eyes.

"Insane?! I will show you what insane truly is!" He clenched his teeth as he got closer to the waterfall. His hands were clenched into fists, and each step he took was unwavering, full of determination! In his quest to defy the Heavens, he needed power! The more he had, the better! The sooner he had, the better!

With his eyes shining with an insane light, he jumped straight into the pond, swimming what remained of the distance to the waterfall.

Just as he was about to reach the waterfall, he stopped, and sat on top of a rock near it. He then crossed his legs, and started to meditate. Previously, mid-way through his path, he realized that before he could carry on his with his plan, he at least mush have some foundations, so he postponed his suicidal idea.

Employing the rank 4 cultivation method that he had gotten from Shinso, Heavenly Energy Absorption. Issei slowly absorbed spiritual power from the atmosphere, letting it slowly flow through his dantian and profound veins. He then supplemented it with a little bit of his vitality, letting it slowly grow in size. He then absorbed some more, increasing the size of the one he had within him.

In order to officially step into to the first level of the Elementary Profound Realm, the small thread of spiritual power within him needed to be able to fill his entire dantian. So, roughly, it needed to have the size of a small jar.

Normally, for a normal cultivator, it would take months before they could accumulate a small jar's amount of spiritual power, as at the beginning, gathering the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Power from the atmosphere and nurturing with one's own vitality was a difficult process. After entering the Elementary Profound Realm's first level, however, it would naturally become much easier. In other words, entering the Elementary Profound Realm was a huge and tiresome challenge.

Geniuses, however, would be able to do it in a single month, with the aid of cultivation resources and advanced cultivation techniques. Issei, on the other hand, on his first try cultivating, managed to reach the tenth level of the Elementary Profound Realm in only a day.

At first, Issei expected that he should be able to do the same thing again, but as soon as his small thread of spiritual power passed through his dantian, its size was tremendously decreased, now only a tiny sliver of the original size. Apparently, when it reached his dantian, most of the thread of spiritual power was absorbed by the sleeping lightning beats.

When Issei realized that, his eyes widened. "Wait… you can't mean..."

Once more, the spiritual power grew again, and did a full cycle on his body. When it reached his dantian, however, most of it was absorbed, only leaving behind a pitifully tiny amount. Seeing that, Issei cursed under his breath.

"Bloodline your sister! This is simply a curse!"

Even with his eight hundred and sixty-four profound entrances madly absorbing the spiritual power from the atmosphere and his vitality, in one night, he was only able to increase the amount of spiritual power to the size of a fingernail. Although it was a progress that no genius could ever hope to compare to, Issei still felt distressed.

"Imagine if I only had fifty-four profound entrances…. With eight hundred and sixty-four of them, my cultivation speed is boosted by at least two thousand times, and even with this boost, this was all the progress I was able to make in one night. If had only a normal human's amount…. It would take me years before entering the first level of the Elementary Profound Realm!"

At that moment, Issei felt grateful and also resentful at the same time. Grateful at the fact that he had such an absurd amount of profound entrances, and resentful that he had gotten such a horrible, despicable, bloodline that only served to hinder his progress.

Grinding his teeth, Issei slapped his chest hard. "So this is how it is, huh? Well, it doesn't matter! I'll just cultivate a thousand times harder!"

Closing his eyes, he went back to cultivating.

…

…

…

Seven days later, Jasmine opened her eyes within the Sky Poison Pearl. Initially, she was planning on only meditating for a few days, but she had underestimated the poison, and had to spend over seven full days to fully repress the rebound.

However, when she opened her eyes and looked at Issei from inside the Sky Poison Pearl, her beautiful, onyx-black pupils constricted as her eyes widened.

"Eh?" A shocked expression flashed on her face as she revealed a surprised sound.

 **Read & Review~!**


	75. Insane Method

**Info:**

 **Cultivation Realms – Elementary Profound Realm, Nascent Profound Realm, True Profound Realm, Spirit Profound Realm, Earth Profound Realm, Sky Profound Realm, Emperor Profound Realm, Tyrant Profound Realm, Sovereign Profound Realm, Saint Profound Realm and Divine Profound Realm.**

 **World Spiritist Levels – White-Cloak, Gray-Cloak, Blue-Cloak, Purple-Cloak, Gold-Cloak.**

 **Profound System Ranks - Low Ranked Profound System, Medium Ranked Profound System, High Ranked Profound System, Special Ranked Profound System, Legendary Ranked Profound System, Ultimate Ranked Profound System and Heavenly Ranked Profound System.**

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 **Chapter 75 - Insane Method**

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In the separate dimension created by the previous owner of the Sky Poison Pearl, a youth walked towards the magnificent, giant, waterfall.

His entire body was bruised, and his appearance was full of wounds. His chest was bare, revealing the slight toning of muscles. His eyes, which were of a dark-brown color were shining with determination, along with with ferocity, as he employed all of his powers to walk towards the screen of water.

Around his body, ripples emanated in the air, resulting from his constant use of spiritual power. Although he was only in the first level of the Elementary Profound Realm, and didn't seem to possess a solid foundation, his spiritual power was incomparably vicious, as it struck at any incoming water.

In some ways, his spiritual power heavily resembled lightning. Ferocious, boundless, free and mighty! Not only that, it was much denser than normal, and within it, it seemed to carry some deep and profound meaning.

Slowly, the youth neared the screen of water. When he stepped inside, stepping on a rock, an incomparably heavy weight descended upon him, threatening to shatter his bones and shred his skin. The youth, however, didn't even wince, as he slowly sat down, right beneath the screen of water. He then crossed his legs, and began to do breathing exercises.

Not even ten seconds later, his spiritual power scattered, as it had been completely wasted, and the full force of the waterfall descended upon him, ruthlessly smashing him into the violent and ruthless pool of water beneath him.

His torso, that was already littered with countless wounds and scars got completely red, now dyed in blood, as old wounds opened and new ones surfaced. His mouth opened slightly, and he coughed out a mouthful of blood. Even then, however, he didn't show even a single hint of pain. His expression remained determined, and even insane!

With immense difficulty, he floated up from the violent churning waters and used his will power alone to resist against the heavy current, finally managing to reach the shore.

After exiting the violent waters, he didn't lay down and rest, and immediately stood up, and while panting, his bones almost shattered and his skin torn, he walked towards a place not too far away from him.

A little while later, he reached a small, man-made pool. Within it was a dense, black liquid that resembled mud. Without even a hint of hesitation, he let his body fall down upon it. The moment he did so, however, all of the wounds in his body started to burn, and the feeling of being stung by thousands of bees washed over his body.

Still, he didn't cry out in pain, as he slowly adjusted his position, sitting cross-legged on the middle of the small pool. He then regulated his breathing, and whilst ignoring the pain, he immersed his consciousness within his body, directly looking at his profound veins and dantian.

Within them, quickly doing circles in his body, was a small thread of spiritual power. Slowly, while being supplemented by his own vitality and the Heaven and Earth spiritual power around him, the thread grew bigger, until it became enough to fill two large jars. When it reached that point, it felt like it had reached a bottleneck, as it did not increase any further.

Seeing that, a pleased expression appeared on the face of the youth. Previously, his limit was one large jar and three fourths of a large jar, but now, he managed to get himself to two large jars. These amounts were in relation to the maximum amount of spiritual power that he could gather at his body.

After he had already replenished his spiritual power, he still sat in the small pond for a few more minutes, before finally exiting. When he did so, his entire skin was red, as if it had been burnt by some kind of poison. At the same time, however, his wounds, that had previously been open, were now tightly closed.

Looking at the small pond, the youth, who was none other than Issei, smiled with relief. He then turned around and walked to the waterfall once more.

The mud-like liquid that filled the pond, was, in fact, a mix of various types of herbs that Issei had found in the forest. On his second day, he went exploring, and brought back with him all of the herbs he could find. Then, he spent the biggest half of the day trying each herb out, since he didn't know any of them.

Soon, he discovered that all of them were poisonous, but at the same time, it wasn't a bad thing. It must be noted that most of the poisonous herbs in existence actually had a positive aspect to it, but the bad aspect was so great that the positive one was completely overshadowed. However, with the Sky Poison Pearl, the negative effect was canceled, which would mean that no matter the herb, all of them would bring him benefits.

As for the herbs in the herb pool, all of them had healing properties. Most of them, if used on anyone else, would cause itching, burning and even serious wounds. On Issei, however, he was able to bring out the best in them, which made his healing process much faster.

At the same time, since his bones, muscles and skin were constantly being shredded by the waterfall, only to be quickly healed again by the herb pool, Issei's body started to develop at an astonishingly fast rate. It must be noted that every time a bone is broken, when it regenerates, it will be thicker and tougher than before. The same applied to muscles and skin.

As such, because Issei was constantly crushing his entire body, only to quickly heal it again, his skin had grown thicker, more elastic and tougher while his bones had grown bigger and more resistant. At the same time, his muscles started to develop at an astonishingly fast speed.

Even though only a week had passed since Issei began his training, his body, which had been as delicate as young girl's previously, was now much more manly, to the point where he would no longer be mistaken as a girl. Not only that, his muscles were starting to develop, and his figure, although slender, was getting more well-built. Finally, because of the increase in size of his bones, Issei had grown much taller during these days. Before, he was only slightly taller than Jasmine, but now, there was a clear difference between the two of them.

Lastly, this training method also increased his spiritual power in an insanely fast speed. By constantly emptying his spiritual power, recuperating it, and instantly going back to the waterfall, his body was forced to absorb the spiritual power and refine it at much faster rates, as means of survival. Or else, he would be crushed under the pressure.

Because of this, Issei was able to, in a week, increase his spiritual power that had been non-existent to the point where it was half-step into the second level of the Elementary Profound Ream. This sort of progress was nothing short of heavenly, and even the geniuses from great sects and schools from all over the world, which were given top-notch cultivation skills and excellent cultivation resources, paled in comparison.

Reaching the peak of the first level of the Elementary Profound Realm from scratch in week? If anyone hear it, they would think that whoever would say such thing was nothing short of insane. At the very least, they would label the person as ignorant.

At the end, however, this training method, although it showed excellent results, much better than what had even been recorded in history, was impossible for anyone else other than Issei. Firstly, it was nothing short of suicidal; a little mistake could lead you to an early grave.

Secondly, it was incomparably challenging to keep on with it; the will-force and determination required to be able to endure such mind-blowing pain couldn't be found in anyone else except Issei, who was willing to give even his life for the power to get his revenge on the heavens.

Thirdly, no one could bring out the good effects out of herbs like Issei. Only with the Sky Poison Pearl would one be able to fully enjoy the benefits of the herbs, or else they would only get a tiny fraction of it.

With all of these factors added together, even if others were to learn of this training method and the results, they still wouldn't even dare to try it, no matter how brave the person was. Why? Because it was completely insane! No, it was even more crazier than insane.. it was at a realm that was never before seen!

As they say, someone that practices cultivation in insane ways will have insane results!

While all of this happened, inside the Sky Poison Pearl, Jasmine was closely paying attention. Initially, she was shocked at his speed, reaching the peak of the first level of the Elementary Profound Realm so fast, but she soon discovered that that was the least surprising thing.

She slowly watched as again and again, Issei went beneath the waterfall, was battered and injured, forcefully healed his body, which brought forth a lot of pain, and went back to the waterfall again. He didn't rest, as he constantly repeated this cycle again and again, without taking breaks.

Before Jasmine even knew it, she had already been observing him for over six hours already. Not only that, at some point in time, she had left the Sky Poison Pearl, and was now sitting right beneath the small pool of of herbs, gazing at Issei.

"This boy… is simply insane!" She exclaimed in shock, as she watched as Issei for the umpteenth time dragged his body to the pool of herbs that laid by her side, not even acknowledging her presence, who was right beside the pool.

She, better than anyone, thirsted for power, and was willing to do anything for it, but the moment she saw how Issei carried himself, she understood that she had overestimated her desires. For example, she would never be able to carry through with this kind of mad training schedule… only someone who lived for power would be able to carry on with it!

"I wonder just what it is that drives him," Jasmine's eyes narrowed slightly, as she thought back to her own reasons. Soon, her face grew dark and she quickly warded off those memories. She then looked back at Issei, who was back beneath the waterfall.

She kept watching, already expecting for everything to proceed as usual, but at this time, something happened. A slight sound resonated, and the spiritual power within Issei experienced a breakthrough, entering the second level of the Elementary Profound Realm.

At the same time, however, because of the sudden breakthrough, his spiritual power was sent into chaos, and he couldn't keep it in check. Because of that, he wasn't prepared, and took on the might of the waterfall full-force, only that this time, since he wasn't prepared, it was much worse.

The scars all over his body opened, and he coughed up large mouthfuls of blood as he was fiercely thrown into the water. Slowly, by relying on sheer willpower, Issei managed to reach the shore, but his state was much worse than it had been in previous times.

The number of bones that he had now broken were obviously at least ten times as much as previous times, and he had lost much more blood. Seeing such a scene, even the cold and cruel Jasmine couldn't help but to soften her gaze, as she stood up to help him.

No matter how apathetic she was, when she saw someone working so hard getting his body mangled, her heart would still drop a little. However, when she was about to help him up, his quivering voice stopped her.

"No… I… can.. do it," Issei lips trembled and his entire body shivered, but he clenched his teeth and grasped the earth beneath him, pushing his body forward. Slowly, he crawled his way back to the pond, where he stayed for some hours, before he got up again and went back to the waterfall with a newly-rejuvenated body.

He knew better than anyone else that this was something that he must do himself; no outside help could be accepted. In order to progress this way, he must constantly be in the boundary of life and death! He needed power as quick as he could, and this was the best way to acquire it!

As such, he warded off the pain, crushed the suffering and destroyed his fears. He kept moving forward, never retreating and never looking back.

This was the path that he had decided to take, and not even death could make him stray away from it!

 **Read & Review~!**


	76. Leaving The Dimension

**Info:**

 **Cultivation Realms – Elementary Profound Realm, Nascent Profound Realm, True Profound Realm, Spirit Profound Realm, Earth Profound Realm, Sky Profound Realm, Emperor Profound Realm, Tyrant Profound Realm, Sovereign Profound Realm, Saint Profound Realm and Divine Profound Realm.**

 **World Spiritist Levels – White-Cloak, Gray-Cloak, Blue-Cloak, Purple-Cloak, Gold-Cloak.**

 **Profound System Ranks - Low Ranked Profound System, Medium Ranked Profound System, High Ranked Profound System, Special Ranked Profound System, Legendary Ranked Profound System, Ultimate Ranked Profound System and Heavenly Ranked Profound System.**

 **A/N: Alright, since I have seen that not many of you have understood how cultivation works, I'll give you guys a simple and direct explanation.**

 **Imagine that Issei's profound system is like a water container. A pretty damn big water container. Now, let's say that for some reason or another, he is unable to use the water container. Instead, all he can do is grab a cup, place it in the water container, and then fill it.**

 **Now, the cup will be Issei's current cultivation, while the water will be spiritual power. As I said before, Issei is unable to use the full water container, and the maximum limit of water that he can store in his body is the space within the cup. So, if the cup is full, no matter how much Issei tries, he won't absorb anything more. The cup is his limit.**

 **Alright, now let's say that whenever you empty the cup, only to fill it again, the size of the cup will increase. By constantly draining and filling the cup with water, the cup soon evolved, becoming a jar, which then became two jar, then three, then... you get the idea.**

 **So, for short: The maximum amount of spiritual power that Issei can store in his body is two jars. Even if he tries to absorb more, he won't be able to. By slowly spending his spiritual power and then filling it, the jar will get bigger, which will allow him to have a bigger reserve.**

 **Well, I can't go for something more simple than that... If you haven't understood yet, P.M me with your doubts and I'll do my best to answer them :)**

 **Alright, now that that is out of the way, onto the chapter...**

* * *

 **Chapter 76 - Leaving The Dimension**

* * *

(Please read Author Note above. It's really important.)

It had already been three weeks since Issei had started his insane training method, and by this point, he had already reached the peak of the fourth level of the Elementary Profound Realm.

Beneath the screen of water, the young genius sat cross-legged. Above him, the water kept falling down with mighty pressure and boundless destruction power, but right above his head was a condensation of spiritual power, that kept protecting him against the ungodly waters.

Issei's expression was calm, and his upper body was bare, leaving himself in only his pants, which were cut out from his robes. His upper body could already be considered toned, but not bulky, as Issei's figure remained slender, but at the same time, wild.

Covering his whole body were various scars that varied in size, shape and intensity. Most of them were closed, and the newest wound was already two days old. Since he had managed to keep his body unscratched for two whole days already, most of his scars were already healing, and many had already disappeared.

Issei's skin, that had been of a sickly pale color before, was now much more healthy, because of the constant exposition to the sun. Still, it couldn't be considered tanned, as it was still of a jade-white color. All in all, if anyone who used to know him were to look at the current him, they wouldn't believe their eyes.

His girly appearance was long since disappeared; his features were sharper, wilder and manlier while his body had undergone gigantic changes. Not only that, his cultivation base was much lower, which wouldn't make any sense for the people who didn't know the story behind it.

Floating in the air not too far away from Issei was Jasmine, who was also meditating. Her eyes were closed, and she was slowly repressing the Absolute God Slaying Poison in her body. By this point, although she still couldn't use any spiritual power, she was still able to speak, walk and live quite freely, unrestrained even.

Suddenly, Issei's eyes opened, and within them, a spark of lightning could be see, which illuminated his brown eyes in an azure-colored hue. The corner of his lips curled up slightly, as he looked at his progress. Although his current cultivation base was nothing like before, he still felt slightly proud of himself.

His gaze slowly wandered across the area, before finally settling on Jasmine. His expression turned slightly troubled, and he sighed. He then steeled his nerves and called out. "Jasmine?"

No response came from Jasmine for a long time, and just as Issei was about to open his mouth to ask again, her left eye opened coolly, gazing at him with coldness. "What?"

"I'm just wondering... do you know why my cultivation speed is so slow?" Issei slowly moved out of the waterfall, jumping headfirst into the waters, before swimming his way onto the shore, where he got up from the water and sat down while drying his clothes with spiritual power.

"Slow?" Jasmine sneered, her other eye kept closed, while her opened eye showed ridicule. "You dare to call that slow? There are many geniuses in this crappy realm that don't even have one thousandth of your speed, and still brag around. You still have the gall to call your speed slow?"

Issei, already used to Jasmine's snappy remarks, merely shook his head. "You know what I mean... I have over eight hundred and sixty four Profound Entrances, and yet my speed isn't anything that great. I already know that it is because of my bloodline, but do you have some way to fix it?"

"Your bloodline? It's yours bloodline fault?" A surprised expression appeared on Jasmine's eye, as her other eye opened up, both now gazing at Issei with curiosity. "Could it be that the beasts within you keep eating you spiritual power?"

"Yes," Issei's eyes widened slightly, surprised. In the end, he still confirmed her doubts.

"Then..." Jasmine's body slowly floated through the air, now right in front of Issei. "What is the rank of your Cultivation Skill?"

"Four..."

"Four hundred?" Jasmine's eyes narrowed as she shook her head. "Of course your bloodline would punish you for using such crappy cultivation methods..."

"I meant four, not four hundred." Issei quickly answered, but deep within, he was surprised. He had never even heard of a rank 20 cultivation skill, and Jasmine just said that one which rank is 400 is crappy? This... Issei could only sigh and shake his head, as he slowly grew used to the fact that Jasmine was just one hell of an evil monster.

"Four?" At that moment, Jasmine's body, that had been relaxed, suddenly stiffened, as if she had been struck by lightning. "Four?!... Four!? FOUR?!"

Seeing Jasmine's outburst, Issei nodded. "Yes, four. It comes after three..."

"I know what four is, you brat!" Jasmine's clenched fist ruthlessly collided against Issei's sternum, knocking out his air. "But, a rank four cultivation skill... Just what is this?! Goddammit, such a thing can't even be used as this princess toilet paper!"

"Not only that, you still dare to use such a thing when you have that freakishly proud bloodline... No wonder your are so slow! You bloodline must feel completely defiled!"

Issei slowly looked up, while clenching his fist, steadily regaining the air that was completely taken out of him. While grinding his teeth, and stopping himself from cursing her entire family, he opened his mouth. "Then does the mighty princess have a cultivation skill that I can use?"

Although Issei absolutely hated to be abused and still do nothing about it, he knew better than anyone that kind of position that he was in. Jasmine was powerful and he was weak. The weak follows the powerful; it was as simple as that.

"Hmph! As if!" Jasmine scoffed. "Do you really think you are worth of this princess' cultivation skills with your lowly cultivation?! Please, you would die instantly just from using them! To use the weakest technique this princess has, you must first be at the Sovereign Profound Realm!"

"Sovereign?" At this point, Issei wanted to be surprised, but it appeared that he had already lost the ability. The reality of living with a being who possessed such different standards from him had finally sunk in, and he was already coming to terms with it and taking her mighty words for granted

Issei then shook his head, clearly dispirited. "Alright, then I guess that I'll continue my way..."

His eyes then flickered slightly, and in the next second, it was as if all of the spiritual power in his body had become lightning. His hair adopted a light blue color, while his eyes were bathed in an azure light. Around his body, lightning arcs danced.

This mode was, obviously, Issei's Lightning Incarnation!

After reaching the fourth level of the Elementary Profound Realm, the spiritual power in his body finally reached the point where it could sustain the activation of his most precious and sacred martial skill, that had been with him through thin and thick.

This time, he was planning on honing his control over lightning by using it to counter-attack the water current, but just as he was about to, Jasmine's eyes widened.

"That.. that... is...the Law of lightning?" Her eyes were widened, while disbelief flashed in her face. In the next second, she flashed over to where Issei was, beginning to analyze him up-close. "Yes, this definitely is the Dao of Lightning..."

She then looked up at Issei and pointed her index finger at him in an accusing manner. "You! Just how did you get your hands on this?!"

"This mode? It's a martial skill.."

"Martial Skill?!" Jasmine's eyes widened. "Let me see it!"

"Hmmm..." Although he didn't know why Jasmine was suddenly interested in his Lightning Incarnation mode, he still brought out the martial scroll with the martial skill: "Four Ways Of The Lightning."

Previously, after killing everyone of the Heavenly Might School, he searched around slightly before getting this technique, along with some others back, as he was afraid that he would have to learn everything from the start. Thankfully, his worries were needless, as he still kept his memories of the arts.

Jasmine quickly snatched it from his hands, and after reading it for a couple of seconds, she suddenly sneered. "Who would have thought? The person who did this skill actually included the requirements to enter the Dao of Lightning and didn't even notice it..."

She then looked up from the paper and gazed at Issei. "You've probably reached a level that is not described here, in which you can use lightning at will, right? You think it should be a rank 10+ skill, am I right?"

"Yes.." Issei murmured, surprised at her speculations, his eyes clearly widened.

"Oh, how ignorant can these youths be?" Jasmine shook her head in dismay before glaring at Issei dead in the eye. "What you're using right now isn't a martial skill; it is a martial law, or in other words a Dao."

"Dao?" Issei's eyes widened, as he had never heard of such a term.

"Yes, Dao," Jasmine nodded. "There are two kinds of Dao. One is... well, that one is too troublesome, and you probably won't ever need it in your whole life, so just ignore it for now. As for the second one, it's the Laws."

"Laws?" Once more, Issei revealed a surprised expression.

"Laws, such as the laws of the five elements, Metal, Wood, Water, Fire and Earth, or the laws of the other power of nature, such as Wind, Snow, Thunder and Lightning... those are laws. In other words, laws are a type of force that a martial artist comprehends, and after comprehension, is able to use it.

For example, there is the Dao of the sword, of the saber, of the spear, of the brick and of all kinds of weapons..."

Jasmine seemed like she was about to explain some more, but she suddenly stopped as her expression flickered while her eyes narrowed. "Oh well, it won't do any good in explaining all this to you... Ai, ai, this princess is just wasting her precious voice!"

She then waved her hands, and a small book appeared, which was then tossed over to Issei. She then pointed at it. "This book explains all about the Laws, also known as Daos... give it a look. It will also explain just what your skill is."

"Alright," Issei nodded, already preparing to sit down and started reading the book, but before he could, Jasmine stopped him.

"Not now, idiot!" Jasmine rebuked him as she slightly hit his head. "Unless you want to die, that is.."

"Die?" Issei's eyes widened.

Sighing, Jasmine pointed around. "Haven't you noticed? This dimension is collapsing... it has been here for too long, and since we have been interfering with the space, it's on the verge of collapse. We must get out as soon as possible.

At that moment, Issei finally took his time and looked around. Before, he had been too focused with cultivation, and hadn't noticed it, but now he saw it. Right up in the sky were large black gaps, as if cracks in space. Not only that, they were increasing at speed perceptible by the naked eye.

Issei quickly turned around to look at Jasmine, a serious expression on his face. "What about the experts outside?"

"They have already gone away..." Jasmine waved her hands nonchalantly. "I'm constantly keeping track of it; I can guarantee that outside is secure... Well, enough about that. Do you have some kind of map?"

"Map?" Issei was about to shake his head, but suddenly remembered something. He waved his hands, and in his palm, a small map appeared. That map was the one that he had found along with the Sky Poison Pearl, and was extremely outdated. Still, it could more or less give someone some idea of the region.

Grabbing the map, Jasmine's eyes scanned over it for a while, before suddenly stopping. Soon after, she threw the map back at Issei. "I have already decided where to go."

"Mn? Where?" Issei looked down at the map in curiosity.

"See the bloodstain that is on top of one of the mountains?" Jasmine asked.

"Yes," Issei nodded, as he recognized that he had noticed that bloodstain on the day he had found the map, but shook it off as some random blood-drop.

"Well, we are supposed to go there." Jasmine turned around and began to walk away. Seeing that, Issei quickly placed the map back in the Sky Poison Pearl and rushed over to her, having to use his fastest speeds to pull it off.

"How do you know that we should head there?" After catching up, Issei asked while he tried to maintain his speed.

"Simple," Jasmine shook her shoulders as she sailed through the air leisurely. "There's a condensation of spiritual power on that blood-drop... it means that it isn't some random bloodstain, but in fact, a marking. There is definitely something on that mountain range! And by something I mean good fortune! It must be some kind of legacy that the previous owner of the Sky Poison Pearl left behind for the new owner, which is you!"


	77. Liang Ye

**Info:**

 **Cultivation Realms – Elementary Profound Realm, Nascent Profound Realm, True Profound Realm, Spirit Profound Realm, Earth Profound Realm, Sky Profound Realm, Emperor Profound Realm, Tyrant Profound Realm, Sovereign Profound Realm, Saint Profound Realm and Divine Profound Realm.**

 **World Spiritist Levels – White-Cloak, Gray-Cloak, Blue-Cloak, Purple-Cloak, Gold-Cloak.**

 **Profound System Ranks - Low Ranked Profound System, Medium Ranked Profound System, High Ranked Profound System, Special Ranked Profound System, Legendary Ranked Profound System, Ultimate Ranked Profound System and Heavenly Ranked Profound System.**

* * *

 **Chapter 76 - Liang Ye**

* * *

Just as Jasmine had said, after exiting the cave, Issei didn't meet with any cultivators. Because of that, along with his enhanced cultivator, in three hours, he finally arrived at the large mountain-range, which was near Heavenly Might School's terrain.

There were dozens of mountains on the mountain-range, and the one marked in the map was the furthest one in the distance. Because of that, Issei only managed to reach it by nightfall, and in quite bad conditions.

His clothes were tattered, his hair was in disarray and his entire appearance was a mess. Obviously, that wasn't his fault. You could probably blame Jasmine for kicking him whenever she got bored, which was quite frequent.

Anyhow, although slightly injured, he managed to reach the location on the map in one piece. Currently, in front of Issei, was a small, dark cave, similar to the one where he found the Sky Poison Pearl.

"Jasmine, is it here?" Issei looked around warily, still not entering. If he had learned one thing throughout his years of cultivation, it was that there were traps everywhere. It wouldn't surprise him if he died the moment he stepped inside the cave, not to mention that his level of cultivation was downright pitiful.

"Yes, this princess feels some powerful aura emanating from within..." Jasmine murmured through their mental connection. "As for traps, I don't feel any."

Seeing Jasmine's confirmation, Issei took a step forward, entering the territory of the cave. The moment he did so, however, a wizened and archaic voice reached his ears.

"So you have finally come..."

Issei immediately stopped, not daring to even take a step further. He immediately looked around, trying to find the source of the voice, but it was of no use, as the cave was just too dark. His first thought was to activate the Lightning Incarnation mode, but just as he was about to, the wall in his right started to emit light.

Immediately looking at his side, Issei saw that hanging onto the wall was a lit torch. Issei's expression turned into one of interest, and just as he was about to move over to it, the entire cave was suddenly illuminated, as thousands of torches caught fire in a split second.

With a surprised expression, in the now well-lit room, Issei noticed that at the far end of the room was an old man. His appearance was wizened, and his body was quite emaciated. Judging from the look in his eyes, he seemed to be on the verge of death.

At the same time, in his head, Jasmine's voice rang out in surprise, "This old man... how can this be?!"

"Jasmine?" Issei quickly took a step back. Judging from Jasmine's words and her tone of voice, the old man was definitely something, so he couldn't help but to want to increase the distance between them. "Something wrong?"

"Something wrong?" Jasmine sneered in his mind as she suddenly stood up. "That man is in the Martial Legend realm... how could I not be surprised?!"

"Martial Legend?" Issei's eyes widened slightly. It was the second time that Jasmine mentioned a realm that he wasn't aware of. First it was Origin and now it was Martial Legend...

Issei was about to inquire once more, but in the next moment, the gaunt old man opened his eyes, which rendered Issei speechless. It was as if he was gazing at two, endless black-holes, that seemed to have transcended time and space. From it, ancient power and deterrence could be seen.

Instantly, Issei clasped his hands and bowed. "Junior greets Senior!"

The old man kept quiet, not saying anything, only gazing at Issei with his atavistic eyes. After a while, his expression loosened slightly, and his eyes no longer looked so dark and menacing. "I see that you are the Sky Poison Pearl's new owner..."

Issei immediately nodded, a solemn look on his face. "Senior's words are correct. Forgive this junior's rudeness, but may I ask if senior is the previous master of the Sky Poison Pearl?"

The old man smiled lightly, but his wrinkled face only got older, as he seemed to reminiscence into the past. After a couple more breaths of time, he spoke. "Indeed, I am. You may call me Liang Ye."

He then kept quiet for a couple more minutes, before opening his mouth once more. "What is your name?"

"This junior is called Issei," The young boy replied politely, still in bowing position. He didn't dare to raise his head without permission. Judging from Jasmine's tone alone, this old man was undoubtedly powerful. Even if he was on the end of his life, killing him should be a simple matter.

"Issei? No surname?" Liang Ye revealed a surprised expression, before a knowing look appeared on his wizened features. "I see..."

After that, he stopped talking. A couple of seconds later, he finally said, "Come to my side, young one."

Nodding his head, Issei immediately rushed to Liang Ye's side, a look of anticipation on his face. After arriving, he bowed down once more, making sure to keep a respectful decorum.

As for Liang Ye, he kept quiet, and didn't say anything. Slowly, he lifted up his dried-up arm, that seemed to only have bones left, and pressed it against Issei's forehead. After a while, he retreated his arm, a little bit of surprise in his eyes.

"You possess four different bloodlines..." He retreated his arm and looked at Issei with interest. "How unusual... Someone must have tampered with your reincarnations..."

He then stopped for a while, as he seemed to be in deep thought. At the end, he sighed. "I'm on the end of my life, and don't have too much time left. When I left the Sky Poison Pearl behind ten thousand years ago, I was looking for an heir... since you found it, it means that it has chosen you."

He then stopped once more before continuing. "Your talent is fitting, in fact, it's better than mine. I have decided."

Hearing so far, Issei's eyes widened. Firstly, Liang Ye had mentioned something about four bloodlines, and that didn't go unnoticed by Issei. Not only that, he spoke of ten thousand years in such a casual manner... For some reason, Issei felt that even when compared to the other peerless expert, Jin Mo, this old man was on another level.

Still, Issei didn't say anything, as he knew that it wasn't his turn to talk. A couple of minutes later, the old man finally finished his sentence. "I'll pass on my legacies to you, for I have deemed you worthy."

At that point, Issei couldn't help but to raise his head in surprise. A legacy again? What kind of luck is this? He had been getting legacies left and right lately. Firstly, there were the three legendary skills left behind by Jin Mo. Then, there was the Evil God's legacy and now this Liang Ye's legacy!

Seeing the look on Issei's face, Liang Ye continued. "I don't have much time left. At most, I can only survive for two months. During these two months, I'll impart all of my knowledge on you."

While he said so, his right hand slowly raised and lightly tapped against Issei's chest. Following that, Issei felt a surge of power rush up his body, and in the next second, it was as if he had grown a third eye. Now, he could literally feel the energy within the cave, the presence of the old man and even the animals outside... It wasn't looking at them, but instead, feeling their presence.

The old man gazed at Issei for a good while before explaining. "In the skills that I'll teach you, there are World Spiritist Skills. Your spirit power was sealed, so I simply unsealed it."

Spirit Power? Issei's eyes widened greatly. He had heard before that Spirit Power was something you are born with; it can't be acquired. Now, this old man had said that his was sealed... could it be that previously, someone locked away his spirit power?

At the same time, although Issei wanted to ask questions, he still restrained himself, afraid of offending the person in front of him.

Not too long after, Liang Ye spoke again. "We will start training right away. Firstly, meditate in front of me. I'll teach you how to use your spirit powers."

Issei immediately nodded, sat down, and entered his meditation position, closing his eyes. Currently, his excitement levels were over the roof, but at the same time, he was doing his best to keep his cool. As for Jasmine, she had been quiet ever since Liang Ye spoke up.

Upon seeing that Issei was ready, the old man also got into a meditation position. "Firstly, you need to channel your spirit power. Spirit power is different from spiritual power, for it's much more unrestrained. You must first subdue it."

Issei quickly followed the old man's order, and upon finishing, opened his eyes as he awaited a next instruction. Not too long after, the old man spoke up once more, giving Issei the basics on how to use his spirit power and how to manipulate it. For two whole weeks, without stopping, Issei trained on his spirit power.

By the end, his abilities, that were previously non-existent, under the guidance of Liang Ye, reached a level that even shocked Jasmine. By now, he was able to easily set up spirit formations, and even change their shape or density.

Normally, to be able to freely manipulate spirit formations required for one to at least be adept at using Spirit Power for over two years, but Issei managed to finish it in two weeks. That was due to his genius mind and Liang Ye's extremely quick and efficient method. At this point, he could already be considered a White-cloak World Spiritist.

During this period of time, although they hadn't talked much, Issei had come to some conclusions regarding the old man. Firstly, he wasn't fond of speaking.. he would only do so when necessary. Not only that, he would always take long breaks from one sentence to another. He also never moved; from the very start until this point, he never got up from his seating position.

One day, just as Issei was about to continue honing his spirit formation's abilities, Liang Ye interrupted him. "Stop for now."

"Oh?" Opening his eyes, Issei saw Liang Ye looking at Issei with his eternal monotone expression. "Is there something wrong?"

"There isn't," Liang Ye shook his head slightly. "However, I have come to the conclusion that your training regarding spiritual power has already progressed enough. Right now, I'll impart other knowledge upon you."

As he said so, he raised his other hand and lightly tapped it against Issei's forehead. In the next moment, Issei felt wave after wave of information flood his mind, all of them regarding herbs, plants, poisons, medicines and medical skills.

"Before acquiring the Sky Poison Pearl, I focused solely on cultivation. After it fell into my hands, I immersed myself in the studies of medicine and plants. That knowledge that you now have was nurtured by me for millions of years. With this, you should be able to fully use the Sky Poison Pearl."

Just as Liang Ye had said, the knowledge that flooded his mind was certainly extensive. Previously, Issei only knew a couple of herbs. Right now, however, he knew of billions of them, along with their utilities, variations and many other circumstances.

Not only that, his knowledge on poison and medical arts grew to heaven-defying extents, as he learned arts that had long since been lost in time. All of this knowledge, without a doubt, would be extremely useful to him. As of this moment, he knew that with this knowledge alone, he could easily be considered the best medic in the Profound Sky Continent, and one of the best in existence.

At the same time, however, the knowledge was too rich and extensive, and it took Issei an entire week to be able to fully comprehend everything. By the time he opened his eyes again, they seemed to be shinning with a new-found power.

"Good," seeing that Issei woken up, Liang Ye nodded. By this point, the wrinkles in his face had grown even heavier, and his life force even less stable. It was obvious that he would die at any given point. "I only have three more things left for you, my disciple."

In the next moment, Liang Ye waved his sleeves, and on top of each of his hands, an object appeared. On his right one was a small, black cube while on his left one was a jade slip.

The old man then gazed at Issei for a long while before explaining. "The cube in my right hand was acquired by me back in the Holy Lands. It is some treasure left behind by some god of the Higher realm, but I couldn't figure out its mysteries. I hope that you will be able to.

"As for the jade slip, I found it twenty millenia after acquiring the cube. It's a martial skill left behind by a god of the Higher Realm, but for us, it is useless. It's name is Deity Enslavement Technique."

 **Read & Review~!**


	78. World Spirits

**Info:**

 **Cultivation Realms – Elementary Profound Realm, Nascent Profound Realm, True Profound Realm, Spirit Profound Realm, Earth Profound Realm, Sky Profound Realm, Emperor Profound Realm, Tyrant Profound Realm, Sovereign Profound Realm, Saint Profound Realm and Divine Profound Realm.**

 **World Spiritist Levels – White-Cloak, Gray-Cloak, Blue-Cloak, Purple-Cloak, Gold-Cloak.**

 **Profound System Ranks - Low Ranked Profound System, Medium Ranked Profound System, High Ranked Profound System, Special Ranked Profound System, Legendary Ranked Profound System, Ultimate Ranked Profound System and Heavenly Ranked Profound System.**

* * *

 **Chapter 78 - World Spirits**

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Deity Enslavement Technique? Issei's eyes widened, as he assumed that Liang Ye would explain a little more about it, but contrary to his expectations, he simply handed him the cube and the jade slip without a single word.

After that, as usual, he kept quiet for a few more minutes before continuing. "Try to gain enlightenment on those the technique and the cube after I have perished. All the information you require about them is in this jade slip."

He then waved his hands, and another jade slip appeared before flying in Issei's direction. After Issei caught it, silence prevailed before the old man continued speaking.

"I told you that I have three things to pass on to you, disciple. As for the third..." His index finger stretched out and lightly tapped on Issei's forehead. Without a change in his expression, Liang Ye continued. "This skill that I have imparted upon you allows you to directly make a contract with a World Spirit. You'll need it for what I shall do now."

As he said those words, for the first time since Issei arrived, the old man stood up slowly. After stabilizing his body, he walked deeper into the cave without another word. Without even needing to be told to, Issei also got up and followed him.

While they walked deeper into the cave, Issei immersed himself in his thoughts, as he analyzed the technique that he had recently acquired. After the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Issei arrived at some conclusions.

Firstly, it must be explained what kind of existences are World Spirits. According to the information he had learned for Liang Ye, World Spirits are inhabitants of different dimensions, who could form contract with World Spiritists. In order for someone to be considered a true World Spiritist, not only must they have the ability to create spirit formations, but also have at least one World Spirit contracted to them.

In total, there are seven Spiritual Worlds, which is where World Spirits reside. The most famous one is the Asura Spiritual World, followed Fairy Spiritual and many others, such as the Ghost Spiritual World. Each of those worlds represent a different dimension, occupied solely by World Spirits.

As for how contracts are made, it's actually simple. A World Spiritist must send their consciousness to one of the Spiritual Worlds. Although he won't be able to see anything, and all that will appear will be a glowing ball of light in the separate dimension, a World Spirit that deems it worthy of themselves will approach it and then form a contract with the World Spiritist.

The ability that Issei had gained, however, was different. In order to use it, one's physical body must be in direct contact with the World Spirit, and he needs to be the one to initiate the contract. If the World Spirit accepts, then the contract will be sealed.

Upon sealing the contract, both on the normal and direct method, the World Spirit would then start living within the World Spiritist's World Spirit Space, which is a place in one's consciousness where their contracted World Spirits live.

After the contract, World Spirits can aid the World Spiritists in battle. They can either supplement the World Spiritist's cultivation with their own, or they can be called out into the real world. In order to summon it, however, it requires someone to be at least a Blue-cloak World Spiritist.

Some minutes later, Liang Ye's monotone voice rang out, taking Issei away from his thoughts. "We've arrived."

Looking around, Issei noticed that he was now in a large room, and right in the middle of it was a large array formation. And standing in front of the formation was Liang Ye, with his back slightly hunched.

He then looked at Issei deeply for quite some time. Then, for the first time in a while, he sighed. "Before we start, I must first give you a World Spirit Space in order for you to store your World Spiritists."

"Normally, the one to create their World Spirit Space is the World Spiritist himself, but since I'll soon perish, we don't have the time to slowly let you build it. If it was up to you, it would take at least dozens of months, and the quality would be far from desirable."

He then waved his hands, and as if a gust of wind had hit him, Issei's body was pushed forward until it was right in front of Liang Ye. Following that, the gaunt old man slowly raised his index finger and deeply pressed it against Issei's forehead.

In that moment, within Issei's Sea of Consciousness, changes started to take place. Boundless spirit power flowed into his mind, penetrating deep within his Sea of Consciousness. Once there, it slowly started to create a different dimension for itself, condensing into a World Spirit Space.

Liang Ye's hand moved away from Issei's forehead slowly, and his face didn't suffer any changes throughout the entire process. At the same time, however, Issei was deeply surprised, for the size of his own World Spirit Space could only be described with one word – Boundless.

Sending his consciousness into his World Spirit Space, he found himself surrounded by a boundless and vast world, and within it, there was a huge palace. Moving his body forward, Issei slowly arrived at it's entrance. However, when he did, he noticed that the walls stretched up into the sky, and he couldn't even determine its end…

Before, Issei had heard that high-quality World Spirit Spaces were a couple of kilometers wide, but this was simply in another level. Its length was seemingly endless, and most surprising of all, it was done in a matter of seconds. The amount of control, accuracy and power needed to be able to come up with such a magnificent structure in seconds was nothing short of heaven-defying.

When Issei opened his eyes again, he saw Liang Ye still staring at him with his hard, cold expression, as if he hadn't done anything special. After a while, he once again spoke. "You probably have already studied the technique I had granted you and noticed that it requires direct contact with a World Spirit.

"This skill was created by me, and it can only be used in one occasion – when you personally go to a Spiritual World. Under normal circumstances, it is impossible for a human to enter a Spiritual World, for their body would be instantly destroyed and even opening the path to one is a secret even in the place where I come from. In all of history, a human has never never set foot inside a Spiritual World.

"You, however, is different. Not only do you possess four terrifying bloodlines, during this weeks, I have come to the conclusion that you also possess a legacy… of a god."

Issei's eyes suddenly widened when he heard such words. Inside him, Jasmine also revealed a surprised expression.

"I'll not ask how you acquired, or why you have it. The fact that I know is enough already," Liang Ye smiled lightly, surprising Issei, since he had never done so before. "What is important is that I have determined that your physique will be able to survive the dimensional travel."

He then turned around and waved his arms. In the next moment, a rumbling sound filled the entire cave as the ground shook. The array in the middle of the room started to emit a dark cold light, and before long, a huge vortex was formed in the middle of the room.

Liang Ye then turned around once more, and by now, his face that was already old turned even more ancient and frail. Even his body turned more emaciated; It was obvious that in order to open that portal, he must have used a great deal of his remaining life-force.

"By the time you come back, I'll have long since perished, so this will be our last time together..." He then flicked his fingers, and a jade slip appeared in the air, hovering in front of Issei. Not only that, a light beam flew from Liang Ye's forehead before penetrating into Issei's mind.

With his expression turning even more ancient, Liang Ye coughed slightly before sitting down on the ground, cross-legged. He then closed his eyes and spoke coolly. "That jade slip is your way back. Crush it and you shall return. Furthermore, you must return within half a year, or else it will lose its powers."

He then stopped for a while, took a deep breath, and continued. "As for that light beam, it gives you the ability to see the grade of a World Spirit's nobility. The denser and purer the color, the higher their power and nobility. As for which colors represent which World Spirit, it is already engraved in your mind.

"Now, as you already know, in total, there are Seven Spiritual Worlds… you'll enter one randomly, so you can only pray for good luck. As for the Higher Being within you..."

When he reached that part, Issei's eyes widened even further, while Jasmine revealed an expression of utter surprise before cursing with vehemence and clenching her small hands into fists. "This damn old man already knew of this princess' existence? Then this princess kept quiet this whole time for nothing?!"

She seemed quite surprised, and at the same time, enraged as she realized that her efforts to hide her presence were useless. Her beautiful face was flushed red in anger, and if Issei could look at it, he would feel quite amused by her sudden outburst.

Liang Ye then continued, not noticing the reactions that his words had brought forth. "The Higher Being will enter a state of slumber during your time inside… It's one of the effects of dimensional travel, so don't worry. Upon coming back, it will also wake up."

After that, he stopped and spoke no more. Issei stood still for a while, but upon noticing that the old man had already finished all that he wanted to say, he clasped his hands and bowed.

"Disciple thanks Master for everything that he has done. This is a debt that I'll never be able to repay."

After saying those words, Issei turned around and walked toward the vortex. At that moment, however, he gave Liang Ye one last sincere bow of gratitude before stepping inside the vortex, leaving the old man behind. A couple of minutes after Issei left, a small smirk appeared on Liang Ye's face.

"That child… he truly is just like his father…" He then stopped lightly before sighing. "It truly is a coincidence for his son to actually be the new master of the Sky Poison Pearl… or is it fate, perhaps?"

He then shook his head slightly. "Well, nothing matters anymore. As for the matter of the bloodlines… I wonder what kind of things that foolish Chu boy did to tamper with his son's reincarnation cycles so much..."

After a while, his face softened and he sighed. "I have lived for far too long… such matters doesn't have importance any more. It's finally time for me to reunite with my friends… Sisters, brothers, wait for me. I'll be there shortly."

As he said such words, a gust of wind flew by, and slowly, Liang Ye's body started to turn into dust. Just like sand, his body crumbled, becoming a pile of small grains, which was then carried away by the wind. With that, Liang Ye, the previous lord of the Liang Family, perished.

Meanwhile, within a separate dimension…

Right after walking into the portal, Issei felt reality distort around him and in the end, he ended up in a boundless black area. In this world, nothing existed, aside from seven, huge door which stood not too far away from Issei.

Each of those doors looked identical in size and shape, and it was impossible to discern one from another. Looking at them, Issei quickly came to the conclusion that they were the entrances to the seven Spiritual Worlds.

Upon seeing that they were virtually identical, he was about to randomly choose one, but stopped, as in the corner of his vision, something caught his attention. Near the last door, there were three phantom, transparent, doors. Seeing that, a look of surprise appeared on Issei's face, but he didn't head towards them, as he felt a foreboding feeling coming from them.

Concentrating once more on the task at hand, Issei continued his path and finally arrived in front of one of the doors. After taking in a deep breath and steeling his nerves, he touched its surface slightly, intending on pushing it open. The moment he did so, however, he felt his body being enveloped by countless light particles, which originated from the door. Before he could do anything about it, his consciousness faded away.

 **Read & Review~!**


	79. Blood Beast

**Info:**

 **Cultivation Realms – Elementary Profound Realm, Nascent Profound Realm, True Profound Realm, Spirit Profound Realm, Earth Profound Realm, Sky Profound Realm, Emperor Profound Realm, Tyrant Profound Realm, Sovereign Profound Realm, Saint Profound Realm and Divine Profound Realm.**

 **World Spiritist Levels – White-Cloak, Gray-Cloak, Blue-Cloak, Purple-Cloak, Gold-Cloak.**

 **Profound System Ranks - Low Ranked Profound System, Medium Ranked Profound System, High Ranked Profound System, Special Ranked Profound System, Legendary Ranked Profound System, Ultimate Ranked Profound System and Heavenly Ranked Profound System.**

* * *

 **Chapter 79 - Blood Beast**

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When Issei opened his eyes, he saw that he was no longer in that separate, black dimension. Surrounding him was an extensive field of grass, with no ends in sight. At first, he looked slightly confused at the change in scenario, but soon, realization dawned on him.

"So this is a Spiritual World?" Issei's eyes narrowed slightly as he got up from his laying position. Looking around, all he found was just a boundless terrain filled with grass. No matter how much he looked around, he could not catch sight of anything living.

Seeing the lack of life, Issei's expression darkened slightly. "World Spirits… just where are they?!"

Sighing, he looked around one last time before deciding to walk around in hopes of seeing anything. While he searched, he tried to make contact with Jasmine, but upon entering the inner world of the Sky Poison Pearl, he saw that she was indeed in deep slumber. This meant that he was alone this time.

Some hours later, Issei still hadn't found anything. Not only that, he had no idea which Spiritual World he was in. As for how he would know, it was easy. Along with the technique to access the level of nobility of World Spirits, it also included an explanation on which color it is for each race.

For example, if the aura of Fairy World Spirits were of a brown color, it means that they aren't noble, and don't possess much potential. However, as it gets greener, it means that its noble blood rate increases, and they have more room for growth and improvement. The maximum aura is of a shining, verdant green, which would mean that their entire blood was noble.

Noble blood, in reality, when it comes to World Spirits, doesn't really have to do with nobility. Well, there are some kingdoms in the Spiritual Words with ranks of nobility, but that's a different prospect. In reality, noble blood means the talent of a World Spirit.

As for why its name that way, it's because in most cases, the World Spirits with the highest amount of talent belong to their Spiritual World's nobility. Hence, it was called this way.

From all of the Spiritual Words, Issei hoped that he had ended up in one like the Fairy Spiritual World or some high-grade one. In reality, even between World Spirits, there's a clear distinction between their species.

For example, Fairy World Spirits are, generally, stronger, faster and better in all aspects than all other World Spirits, while the ones from the Beast Spiritual World are generally the weakest. In reality, however, there's a single Spiritual World that reigns supreme over all others.

Most believe that the ones from the Fairy Spiritual World are the very best, but that isn't the case. It's only believed that way because it is border-line impossible to form a contract with a World Spirit from the best Spiritual World, the Asura Spiritual World.

Asura World Spirits, are, without a doubt, the very best when it comes to offense. They may not be as dignified and graceful like the ones from the Fairy Spiritual World, or possess special powers, like the ones from the Beast Spiritual World, but when it comes to offensive power, no one could ever match them. Even when compared to ones from the Fairy Spiritual World, which is the second-best one, the ones from the Asura are still considered legendary existences.

At the same time, however, forming a contract with a World Spirit from the Asura Spiritual World is as difficult as ascending to the Heavens. Not only are their requirements strict, they are immeasurable proud, and under no circumstance would they form a contract with a cultivator, since the latter would be considered the former's master, and they simply can't accept such a thing.

According to the legend, even in the Divine Phoenix Empire, there had never been a World Spiritist with a contract with an Asura World Spirit. In fact, there has never been records of Asura World Spirits in the Profound Sky Continent! Because of that, they are considered legendary existences, who people don't even dare to dream of having.

As such, Issei obviously didn't fathom any hopes of ending up in the Asura Spiritual World, since his chances of entering that world by chance were minimal, as Liang Ye had mentioned before he departed that the higher the rank of the Spiritual World, the lower the probability.

With luck, he would be able to end up in the Fairy Spiritual World, but he still didn't really have much confidence in that. Hence, he could only wander around until he actually finds a World Spirit. At that moment, from the color of their aura, he would be able to determine which Spiritual World he was in.

Countless hours later, Issei finally saw a change in scenario. Right in front of him was a rather big cliff, which meant that the endless plains he was in was in a rather elevated area. Far on the other side, there was another cliff, and between them was another plain of grass, that lay at a much lower altitude.

The moment he saw this, however, his eyes widened, as he heard the sounds of someone speaking. Peering over the cliff, he saw two figures standing away from each other, one of them constantly talking. Around them, he could see the air constantly recoiling and cracking, which resulted from the boundless spiritual power around them.

Looking up in the air, Issei finally saw some aerial life. With a huge body of dozens of meters wide, a being that resembled a dragon flew up high in the air, surrounded by countless other flying beings. Some were birds, while other were different flying animals, such as large insects. At the same time, however, they all had one thing in common – The red aura that surrounded them.

On some, like the dragon, the red aura was of a darker color, akin to a deep velvet, while on the insect-like ones, their aura was of a shining red-color, that seemed to be glowing. Issei only managed to notice those auras because of the ability that Liang Ye had given him, which allowed his vision to notice their level of nobilities. If he canceled the ability, then he would no longer be able to see their colors.

While Issei analyzed their auras, his eyes narrowed as he searched in his mind which one it belonged to. It definitely wasn't the Fairy, nor the Beast… After a while, Issei saw a small piece of information engraved on his mind – Asura World Spirits; the lower the nobility, the redder the color. The higher, the blacker.

When Issei recalled that information, his mind reeled as he his eyes widened to the size of dinner plates, his body falling to the ground in surprise. His breath slowly became ragged, as he started to pant. Right now, within him, thousands of emotion were flooding his mind; Surprise, astonishment, and most prominent of all – Excitement.

"Asura Spiritual World!" Issei's expression kept getting more excited by the second, as he slowly understood what this implicated. He, by some heaven-defying act of luck, ended up in the legendary Asura Spiritual World! Just what is this?!

Immediately, Issei remembered something as he immediately cast his gaze towards the two humanoid figures that were facing each other. Activating the special power, he peered into their auras. The first figure, which had a large and stout frame, with bulging muscles and a hard and manly look, had a velvet aura with some traces of black.

Seeing that, Issei's eyes widened even further as he realized that this Asura World Spirit was quite noble.

However, when he looked at the second one, his excitement soared to new heights as the world noble gained a brand-new definition. Surrounding the second one, there was a dense and thick black aura, of such a pure and untainted black that he couldn't even see the World Spirit within. In his whole life, he had never seen such a terrifying and fear-inducing dark color.

"That is… the very peak of nobility..." Issei's slips trembled, as he clenched his hands into fists. When he cast his gaze at that World Spirit once more in order to check whether or not he had seen it right, he made a pledge – He would definitely form a contract with that one!

No matter what it took, once Issei decided on something, he would go until the end. If he wanted to form a contract with that Noble World Spirit, then he would stop at nothing to do it! He knew that if he wanted to get powerful, then such a legendary World Spirit was a must!

While this happened, Issei's body moved slowly, and he steadily approached the edge of the cliff. He had decided that he wouldn't take action right now, for it seemed that a battle was about to erupt. First, he would analyze the situation and then decide on a course of action.

Enhancing his eye-sight and hearing through his spiritual power, Issei focused on the scene below him, not holding back anything. At the same time, he stopped the technique so he could obverse the scene with higher precision.

"Look, I have already told you, get the hell outta here! This is my turf, so what if the royal family doesn't like my subordinates?! Who told ya guys to be a bunch of stuck-up bastards?!" One of the World Spirits, who resembled a bulky and delinquent male, roared and he held his saber forward.

His body was covered in outlandish clothes, and he seemed to some kind of mercenary. His sword also seemed to be quite high-grade, and it was shining with splendor and power.

The other World Spirit, the one with the extremely noble blood, simply kept quiet. Its entire body was covered in a dense, black robe, and as for the parts that the robes couldn't cover, they were wrapped up in some black cloth. Even the face was completely concealed, and the gender of the World Spirit remained unknown.

Instead of answering, it simply raised up its right hand, and from it, a thick and black smoke appeared. Seeing that smoke, the other World Spirit tensed as he moved a step back.

"I already told ya, I don't wanna fight you damn nobles! Just leave me and my group be, and there won't be any problems!" He quickly exclaimed as it steeled his nerves and forced himself to take a manly stance, not willing to show any weakness.

Still, the other World Spirit didn't show any intention of answering, as the black smoke kept getting thicker by the second. Noticing that, the other World Spirit cursed. "Dammit! I, Li Xiaodie, was injured recently! I didn't want to waste my miracle medicines for this!"

As he said such words, he slapped the cosmos sack that hanged by his waist, getting a small pill from within. He then cast his glance at the black-clad World Spirit. "I'll give you one last chance… in terms of powers, we should be evenly matched. This is only going to end bad for ya!"

In response to his words, it raised another hand, and the black smoke tripled in size and intensity. Narrowing his eyes, Li Xiaodie cursed as he threw the pill into his mouth. In the following moment, his cultivation base, that was already unfathomable to Issei, increased even further as he roared.

"So be it! Only one of us is getting out from this place alive!"

He then slapped his cosmos sack once more, and from it, hundreds of flying swords emerged. All of them flew into the air, before hovering right behind Li Xiaodie. Before long, hundreds of flying swords, of different shapes and sizes, were floating around him.

With a cold and resolute look in his eyes, he raised his right arm and a dozens of meters wide black beam of light flew forth, heading towards the black-clad figure. At the same time, the hundreds of swords around him rushed forth, all of them with a single target – the enemy World Spirit!

 _Whoosh Whoosh Whoosh_

The wind whipped about, as with terrifying might, speed and power, the various swords, that could be regarded as treasures, sailed through the air, rocketing forward in heaven-defying speeds!

However, right before the swords could reach their target, the black smoke around the other World Spirit erupted around it, solidifying into huge, black tendrils. With a single wave of its hand, the hundreds of tendril blocked each of the swords.

 _Clash! Bang!_

No matter how much the swords pressed forward, trying to shatter the thousands of tendrils, it was as if their defense was impenetrable, as they slowly parried each strike, catching up to the swords' attack speed before grasping them.

As for the huge black beam, it was quickly dealt with as the enemy World Spirit simply waved its hands, and from it, boundless spiritual power from Heaven and Earth surged forth, like a gust of it. As soon as they collided, the large beam of power completely dispersed, becoming absolutely harmless.

With widened eyes, Li Xiaodie watched as each of his swords were crushed by the black tendrils, and his attack was completely blocked. Not only that, the enemy World Spirit seemed to have done so in a leisurely manner!

With a single wave of its hands, thousands of attacks, no matter how fierce, were nullified!

Cursing loudly, Li Xiaodie slapped his cosmos sack once more, and a big, red sword appeared in his hands. He then, without hesitation, bit his tongue, drawing blood and spat it all over the sword, coating it in a dark-red color.

"Blood Pact – Asura's Wrath!"

The sword suddenly combusted, as the blood, like fuel, burned brightly. Soon, around the sword, the phantom images of fire beasts spawned, surrounding Li Xiaodie. Dragons, tigers, lions... thousands of beasts, of all size and shapes, all of their bodies formed by flames appeared around him. At the same time, his face paled as his spiritual power and life-force was heavily drained.

He then slapped his bag of holding and produced a small pill. Without hesitation, he swallowed it and his spiritual power was replenished, along with his vitality. With his new-found energy, he waved his sword forth as he cast a second martial skill.

"Fire Descent, Burning Hell!"

The thousands of fire beasts around him roared and behind him, a blazing red sun appeared. He then spat more blood into the sword as he roared, continuing the incantation.

"Hell's Lotus Formation!"

The sun behind him slowly wriggled, before its shape started to change, slowly turning into a blazing-red lotus, that flew up high in the air. In the next moment, along with the thousands of fire beasts, it launched forward, right at the other World Spirit, raining down in a barrage of fire!

 _Bang!_

The sounds of a huge explosion rang out as the entire area was bathed in flames. The ground was scorched, the air turned arid, and even the animals up in the air retreated. Around him, not even a single inch of ground was left uncovered. This scene could only be described a burning hell!

Gazing at the burning inferno, Li Xiaodie revealed a small smirk as he panted slightly. This should be more than enough to deal with that World Spirit!

"Take that, you damn noble! That's the results of three of my best skills, Asura's Wrath, Burning Hell and Hell's Lotus Formation! Even if you are the son of God, you'll perish from this attack!"

As he gloated, his expression only grew more wretched, as he also started to curse the other World Spirit. Mid-way his dialogue, however, he stopped, and his eyes widened while his pupils constricted. In the next moment, all of the flames in the area around him vanished, as if washed over by a gust of wind, as right in the place where the other World Spirit had been, there was a huge black dome of darkness.

The dome covered a small area, hence he hadn't noticed it amidst the blazing inferno, but with the flames gone, he could now clearly see it.

In the next moment, the dome of darkness turned into fog, revealing the World Spirit. It was completely unharmed, and no damage came upon it.

"What?!" Li Xiaodie roared in disbelief, as he realized that he had underestimated his enemy. Initially, he thought that he was up against someone of the royal guard, but that seemed to no longer be the case. He then took a step back as he clenched his fist. "Could he be.. someone from the special corps?"

He cursed once more, as he produced three more pills from his cosmos sack. Swallowing them, he looked at the enemy World Spirit with vehemence. "Then so be it!"

He then slapped his chest, and a mouthful of blood fell out of his mouth. This blood, however, wasn't any normal blood. It was special, since it contained his very life-force. Just from losing it, thousands of years were erased from his life-span.

The blood then slowly condensed into a small sword, not longer than one and half meters. Grasping the blood-red sword in his hands, a maniacal light surged in his eyes. "If you're truly from the Special Corpse, then you have the qualifications to experience it first-hand!"

His figure suddenly flickered, as in the next second, his body disappeared. In the next moment, right behind the enemy World Spirit, Li Xiaodie emerged with his sword raised.

"Die!" Li Xiaodie roared as he brought his sword down, right upon the being's head. The World Spirit, however, simply raised its arm up, without employing any fancy martial skills.

 _Bang!_

 _Whoosh~! Whoosh~! Whoosh~!_

A deafening sound erupted all around the plains, as a wind gust washed over the area, uprooting trees and small mountains. The clouds in the sky parted, and even the creatures hovering in the far heavens were mercilessly killed. Even Issei, who was far-away, got thrown back into the sky.

 _Creek!_

Behind the black-clad World Spirit, a fissure appeared. Around Li Xiaodie, the earth cracked as large rocks rose up in the air. The enemy World Spirit, however, remained unharmed as it turned its arm to grab the sword. Seeing that, Li Xiaodie's eyes widened as he pulled back, before swinging his sword again, sending sound-waves all around the area, rocking up the entire plane.

With each strike that the sent, the ground crumbled as large fissures and craters formed. By the thousandth, the terrain was already completely different. It was now a barren wasteland, and even the large cliffs around him were almost shattered.

Slowly, Li Xiaodie started to grow tired. His eyes no longer possessed its fierce and boundless energy, as his body slowly fell to the ground. As for the other World Spirit… during the entire exchange, it never moved away from its original position!

"You aren't from the corps..." Li Xiaodie coughed up a mouthful of blood. "You're actually from the royal family..."

He then looked up at the sky with a solemn look and laughed heartily. When he looked at the enemy again, his eyes no longer had any trace of sanity left. "I guess that sacrificing my life for your death isn't such a bad deal..."

As he said such words, he grabbed the sword formed by his blood, and to the utter astonishment of the other World Spirit, he ruthlessly stabbed it into his chest, piercing his heart.

With a cold smile, the Li Xiaodie murmured his last words. "Necromantic Forbidden Arts – Rebirth Of The War God..."

At that moment, his body erupted in a haze of blood and gore, as the earth shattered all around him. However, that wasn't the end.. it was far from it. Following his death, up in the sky, all of the dragons, birds and insects suddenly stopped.

Their eyes slowly became muddy, as their body started to move on their own. In the next second, all of the World Spirits in the vicinity rushed to the sport where Li Xiaodie had died. Upon arriving there, all of their bodies exploded in a haze of blood and mist, and slowly, the air around it started to condense, as the aura of blood kept growing thicker and thicker.

By the time all of the World Spirits in the vicinity had exploded, more than a thousand of them had perished. Right at that moment, the cloud of blood and gore started to take shape. It became a small drop of blood, before increasing in size, and before long, that drop of blood was already ten meters tall and dozens of meters wide.

Seeing that, the other World Spirit, that had kept in the same spot the whole time, suddenly moved. Its body was like a lightning bolt as it rushed back, trying to put up as much distance as possible between it as the huge drop of blood. Around it, black fog was constantly created, becoming a protective mantle around it.

Right as the World Spirit reached increased the distance between them by one hundred meters, the drop of blood solidified, before cracking. Emerging from it was a gigantic creature. Its body was completely red, and it wasn't stable, constantly pulsating and increasing.

It seemed as if its entire body was composed solely by blood, and around it, wave after wave of spiritual power pulsated. The air near it started to crack, and fissures started to appear all over the area.

Slowly, the blood beast moved a step forward, before raised its head up into the sky. The blood around the head parted, revealing a huge mouth, formed of blood-red teeth. It then stretched the mouth wide before roaring.

"Raaaaaahhhh!"

A blood-curling, ear-splitting sound erupted, as a huge sound-wave washed over the plains. It then got down on its four legs, and without a warning, rushed forward, directly towards the enemy World Spirit. This being had no consciousness, as it was made from the flesh and blood from various World Spirits. It only knew how to do one thing – Killing.

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	80. Beautiful World Spirit

**Info:**

 **Cultivation Realms – Elementary Profound Realm, Nascent Profound Realm, True Profound Realm, Spirit Profound Realm, Earth Profound Realm, Sky Profound Realm, Emperor Profound Realm, Tyrant Profound Realm, Sovereign Profound Realm, Saint Profound Realm and Divine Profound Realm.**

 **World Spiritist Levels – White-Cloak, Gray-Cloak, Blue-Cloak, Purple-Cloak, Gold-Cloak.**

 **Profound System Ranks - Low Ranked Profound System, Medium Ranked Profound System, High Ranked Profound System, Special Ranked Profound System, Legendary Ranked Profound System, Ultimate Ranked Profound System and Heavenly Ranked Profound System.**

* * *

 **Chapter 80 - Beautiful World Spirit**

* * *

As soon as the earth-shattering roar erupted throughout the endless plains, all of the Heaven and Earth spiritual power in the atmosphere entered into a state of turmoil. In an area of hundreds of meters, a faint screen of red appeared, covering the entire plane.

In the next moment, the blood beast pounced forward, its hind legs shattering the ground beneath it, disappearing in a haze of blood. Following that, right behind the black-clad World Spirit, the same beast reappeared, its right arm pulled back.

 _Bang!_

The skies trembled and the earth shook, as its huge fist collided against the black smoke. The spiritual power in the area churned, the bloody glow around the beast getting brighter by each following second. Throwing its left arm forward, it also crashed it against the black smoke.

 _Crack!_

A cracking sound filled the air, as slowly, fissures started to appear in the black smoke barrier. Seeing that, the black-clad World Spirit immediately jumped back, as its hand flashed in countless gestures.

"Asura's Seal!"

A voice came out from behind the wraps, but it was muffled, which made it impossible do discern the gender. In the following moment, a glowing magic symbol appeared in the World Spirit's right hand.

With a decisive movement, the World Spirit pressed forward, throwing the glowing magic symbol against the beast, who was still struggling against the shattering barrier.

 _Boom!_

The magic symbol quickly reached its target, instantly erupting in a dense cloud of spiritual power, that exploded in all directions. While this happened, the World Spirit didn't stop retreating, as it knew that the beast still wasn't finished.

Just as it thought that, in the next moment, from within the densely packed spiritual power, a blood-red hand surged out, tearing through the black fog. Right in front of the hand, a small sphere of blood appeared, not wider than a fingernail. Still, when the World Spirit saw it, behind the wraps, its eyes widened.

Slapping the cosmos sack by its waist, the World Spirit produced a little paper talisman. Without hesitation, it threw the paper talisman in front of it, as it continued to retreat.

Just like a seed that had sprouted, as soon as the paper talisman reached the ground, it began to expand in size. Ten meters, a hundred meters, a thousand meters…. Before long, it was already ten thousand meters tall and more than a hundred meters wide. Its surface, that was previously as thing as paper, gained a metallic luster, as it also grew hundreds of meters thick.

In just a second, a huge wall, that reached up to the heavens, appeared in the space between the World Spirit and the blood beast. Alas, the World Spirit didn't seem to be satisfied, as from its cosmos sack, more and more treasures appeared.

Jade talismans, jade slips, shields and all kinds of treasures erupted from within the small sack, hovering in the air in front of the World Spirit. In then waved its hands slightly, and hundreds of barriers appeared around it, all of them result from the magical properties of its treasures.

Right as the hundredth barrier was forming, suddenly, all of the spiritual power in the vicinity, for a split second, ceased to exist. In the next moment, it came back, but along with it, was the attack of the blood beast!

 _Baaaam!_

The small sphere in the blood beast's released a huge booming sound as it begun to expand in size, quickly reaching dozens of meters tall. As soon as it reached the size of over fifty meters wide, it suddenly shrunk back, becoming even smaller than before.

Following that, the beast heavily smashed its fist against the now miniscule sphere. Just like an arrow, it was sent flying, straight towards the huge wall.

 _Screee!_

The small sphere fiercely impacted on the huge wall, resulting in a high-pitched shriek. Right after, the ball suddenly erupted, releasing all of the built up energy within. In the next second, the world was enveloped by a blinding red light.

Color no longer existed, and the concept of heaven and earth lost their meaning. The whole world was submerged in a sea of blood-red glow, and sight long since became a simple memory. For an entire minute, the entire region was completely enveloped.

When the light finally died down, it revealed the after-effects of the attack. The entire wall had be shattered into pieces, along with all of the protective barrier surrounding the black-clad World Spirit. Currently, it laid motionlessly on the ground.

At the last moment, it completely sacrificed its cultivation base in order to salvage his its life. With that, all of its cultivation was lost, sent back to the very start. Thankfully, however, it wasn't crippled and it was still possible to return to its former glory, but it would take a great deal of hard work and perseverance.

As for its life, because of the sacrifice, it was kept intact, but the whole body suffered heavy injuries. Lungs pierced, bones broken, ribs shattered… every kind of of misfortune befell upon it from that very strike. At the same time, it was no longer conscious, and had entered a state of deep slumber.

As for the blood beast, it had faded away along with that attack. Its lifespan was originally short, and it had imbued all of its life-force into a single attack, so by the time the attack was over, not even a single drop of its blood remained; all of it had been absorbed in that strike.

…

…

…

In a place far away from the battle ground, Issei finally awakened. Back in the first strike sent by Li Xiaodie, he had been thrown into the air like a kite without a string, and sailed far back into the plans. Although it seems like bad luck, in fact, he couldn't be any luckier, since if he had been there when the last attack happened, then nothing would remain of his life.

Upon awakening, without even checking for injuries, Issei immediately headed back to the battlefield, as he was afraid that the battle had already ended and the Noble World Spirit had left. When he got there, however, he was surprised beyond belief.

Never before had he seen such massive destruction, and not only that, he found that his soon-to-be World Spirit was heavily injured. Without a second thought, he rushed down the hill, heading straight towards the World Spirit.

Upon reaching it, he didn't bother checking for injuries, as just from a glance, he could access the entire situation – one of the perks of gaining Liang Ye's almighty medical knowledge. Although he saw that there were some quite serious wounds, there was nothing life-threatening, so he figured that before he started the healing process, it would be better to find a place to rest.

Thankfully, it didn't take him long to find a small cave near the place where the battle had taken place. Upon entering, he immediately cast a spirit formation on the entrance, that made it seem as if there was no one in the cave. Such a formation was called a concealment spirit formation.

After finishing the preparations, he slowly and gently let down the body of the World Spirit on the ground, kneeling beside it. Then, he began to take out the bandages in order to tend to the injuries. Right now, he had figured that if he could do a good job, then he would have curried favor with this World Spirit, and it would increase his chances of creating a contract with it.

Slowly, he moved his hands over to the face area, and took off the hood, revealing a head completely covered by black wraps. Slowly and carefully, he took each of the wraps off, revealing the face underneath.

Much to his surprise, what was behind the wraps wasn't a handsome youth, or a devilish looking World Spirit. In fact, it wasn't even a male. In reality, it was a young female, in her mid to late teens.

Her hair was black and lush, of an extremely healthy sheen. As for the face, it could only be described with one world – Heavenly. Issei was already used to beauties, since he lived with Jasmine every day and had spent a great amount of time with Xia Mei, but even then, he couldn't help but to hold back a breath.

Jasmine was extremely beautiful, more so than humanly possible, but at the same time, her beauty wasn't ripe, as she was quite young. Not only that, her aggressive, sadistic and tyrannical attitude didn't really help.

This girl, however, stood at the true peak of beauty, with perfect features In her perfect goose-like face were a pair of shiny big eyes. Within the black pupils, it was as if there was a river of stars and it was both deep and captivating, extremely clear and mesmerizing.

Under her beautiful eyes was a delicate nose, and beneath it was a soft and pink little mouth. Her lips slightly stuck out and it was enchantingly beautiful and extremely seductive. Just from looking at them, Issei had to hold back the urge of locking his with hers.

Just from her face alone, Issei could easily determine that in terms of appearance, she was in no way inferior to Jasmine. In fact, because of her slightly older age, she could be said to be even more captivating! Even Xia Mei would be lacking when compared to this beauty.

At this moment, if it wasn't for the fact that Issei was already so used to living with heaven-defying beauties, then he would have lost himself staring at her all day long, and would have forgotten about the wounds. Alas, Issei was not a simple male, and he quickly broke out from his stupor.

"Truly beautiful..." Issei couldn't help but to say softly, before moving on to the other parts of her body. Slowly, he unwrapped the bandages around her torso, and immediately after, two protruding peaks jumped out. Before, they were being restrained by the countless layers of wraps, but right upon releasing their bindings, they bounced out like a pair of springs!

Their size was full and big, and just from looking at them, Issei determined that even if he tried to grasp them with his hands, he would be unable to cover them completely. Not only that, they were of a milky white color, and the tips were of a healthy pink hue.

"Oh..." Issei's mouth opened, and his eyes widened, as he truly wasn't prepared, never expecting to see such a godly valley. It took all of his will-force to continue on, and even then, he couldn't help but to sneak some peaks here and then. After all, he was still a young boy, and because of Shinso's excessively perverted nature, his mind wasn't actually pure.

Before, he used his cultivation to forcefully repress his unholy thoughts, but now that his cultivation base had fallen so much, it was beginning to turn into a harder and harder task to keep his thoughts in check. Nevertheless, he continued on, going to her lower body.

This time, in contrast to the previous, he was prepared, and left some of the bandages around her delicate area, as he knew that the result would be disastrous if he were to see it. After he finished, her entire body, except for some special parts, laid bare in front of him.

Looking at her whole body, Issei also couldn't help but to swallow a little of saliva in his dry throat. Her face was heavenly and her body completely matched it. Her black hair was now scattered on her snow-white shoulders, and her figure was nothing short of perfect. This was a point where Jasmine, because of her young age, was clearly lacking.

Her skin was of a snow-white color, with a healthy pink luster, but was tainted by various wounds and blood spots. Her figure, in simple words, was sticking in and out where needed, with her buttocks being just as majestic as her godly twin peaks.

"Concentrate," Issei couldn't help but to murmur to himself as he took his attention away from her mesmerizing parts, and focused on the wounds. Just by looking at it for a second, Issei was clearly able to determine all of the wounds, their intensity and blood-loss.

"Some broken ribs, one of the lungs is pierced, couple of deep cuts..." Issei looked over at her body as he spoke out some words. "Alright, I've got some work to do."

Following that, he searched through his mind for the best healing methods. Currently, in his memory, there were over ten thousand different ways in which he could heal a broken rib… this was the level of knowledge that he had acquired from Liang Ye. The guy wasn't kidding when he said he spent hundreds of thousands years focused solely on medicinal techniques and skills.

After a while, Issei chose some methods and begun his work. If it were normal wounds, he would have first cleaned the wounds to get rid of impurities that could cause infections, but since they were caused by spiritual power, he had no such necessity. Slowly, he begun to use the Sky Poison Pearl to heal her injured body.

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	81. Milady Queen

**Info:**

 **Cultivation Realms – Elementary Profound Realm, Nascent Profound Realm, True Profound Realm, Spirit Profound Realm, Earth Profound Realm, Sky Profound Realm, Emperor Profound Realm, Tyrant Profound Realm, Sovereign Profound Realm, Saint Profound Realm and Divine Profound Realm.**

 **World Spiritist Levels – White-Cloak, Gray-Cloak, Blue-Cloak, Purple-Cloak, Gold-Cloak.**

 **Profound System Ranks - Low Ranked Profound System, Medium Ranked Profound System, High Ranked Profound System, Special Ranked Profound System, Legendary Ranked Profound System, Ultimate Ranked Profound System and Heavenly Ranked Profound System.**

* * *

 **Chapter 81 - Milady Queen**

* * *

Some hours later, Issei managed to treat most of the wounds. He then quickly wrapped her up with some new bandages, taking away his source of distractions. He also placed some robes that he had gotten from the Sky Poison Pearl underneath her in order to provide better comfort.

Sighing, he sat down, beads of sweat falling down his face. This was by far the most mentally challenging experience he had ever gone through. Tending to serious wounds while faced with so much distraction... One can only imagine how hard it was for him.

He then glanced one last time at the beauty's body, just to make sure that everything was in order. His sight slowly lingered on her upper body for a second, focused on her breast area, before moving on.

Her body was still covered in wraps, which Issei had laid in order to stop the blood from flowing out, but differently from before, the wraps weren't so tight, and the outline of her godly valley could be easily seen.

Shaking his head slightly, Issei laid his body against the walls of the cave and opened up the book that he had gotten from Jasmine, intending to read it while he waited for the World Spirit girl to wake up.

Opening up to the first page, he began reading the information within. Thankfully, it seemed like the book wasn't written with ink, but instead with spiritual power, so as soon as he laid his eyes on it, the words were translated to his language.

In the book, it explained that the word Dao had two different meanings. One of them was related to the laws of the universe, while the other... It only said that the concept of the other kind of Dao was something that one had to comprehend himself... Issei simply decided to ignore it for now.

As for the name of the book it was, 'Dao, Laws and Nomological truths.'

It started by explaining that Dao, Law and Nomological Truths, were, in fact, the same concept, which were the laws, or truths, of the universe. The book didn't focus on a single Dao, but in fact, focused on all of them, giving an introduction about the concepts.

In the introduction of the 'Dao, Laws and Nomological Truths', it explained that the path of martial arts had 3000 Great Dao. While some of these Great Dao were difficult, others were easy. The powers one could obtain from each route were not the same, with various different abilities.

These 3000 Great Dao were split into several big categories.

The first category was the Dao of weapons. There were saber truths, spear truths and sword truths. All of them came under the classification of the Dao of weapons. In order to begin one's path of delving themselves into one Dao, it required them to be introduced to the general concept.

For example, if someone were to use a sword all of his life, and reach a level of being one with the sword, then he would have unconsciously comprehended the Dao of swords. The more he understood the ways of the sword, the better his control and power over it would be.

Aside from weapons, there were also the Dao of the five elements, Metal, Wood, Fire, Water and Earth. After being introduced to the laws of one of the elements, one could focus on it and increase his level of comprehension over it. If they were to reach the pinnacle, they would be able to freely control the elements, fuse with them or do many kinds of mind-blowing actions.

Going further, there were the Dao of the other elements of nature, such as Wind, Snow, Lightning and Sand. These ones were much more difficult to comprehend than the Dao of the five elements, and at the same time, were much more powerful.

There were also some other Daos, that came in pairs, such as the Hard-Soft, Fake-Real, Space-Time, Life-Death, Cause-Effect, Being-Void, Ephemeral-Eternal, Yin-Yang and many others. These ones were usually a bit easier to understand than the elemental ones, with some exceptions.

By the time he was near the end of the book, Issei already figured that his ability to use lightning existed because when the creator of the Four Ways Of Lightning was creating the martial skill, he, without noticing, added the necessary requirements to develop one's own Dao Of Lightning.

Issei, upon using it continuously, also without being aware of it, deepened his knowledge on the Dao Of Lightning, and ended up with an ability far more powerful than what the martial skill described.

That was because a Dao was endless. The more one understood, the stronger they got. There were always room for improvements, which meant that the Dao was akin to a martial skill that grew alongside with you. It had no limits, and could grow endlessly.

With this, Issei also came to the conclusion that if he trained hard and managed to gain a deeper understanding on the ways of the Lightning, than his Lightning Incarnation mode could slowly evolve into a much more terrifying power!

A small smirk formed on Issei's face while he read the last pages of the book, being glad that Jasmine had given it to him. At this moment, he understood that his potential for lightning was boundless, and he could empower himself contentiously. Not only that, he could also begin to learn the other Dao and create more abilities akin to the Lightning Incarnation, such a Flame Incarnation, Snow Incarnation, Metal Incarnation… Just the thought of it made Issei endlessly excited.

Suddenly, just as Issei was about to close the book, he heard a sound coming from not too far away from him. Taking his eyes away from the book, he saw that the World Spirit girl was moving around in the ground, about to awaken.

"Eeeeh?" As soon as the World Spirit girl woke up, she immediately adopted an expression of surprise. Her eyes than lingered on her body, that was now covered in white wraps instead of black, before turning her head to look at Issei.

"You..." Her eyes widened as she looked at him with surprise. "My wounds... The battle..."

Her voice was soft and melodic, and it was by far better than Jasmine's, which was filled with scorn, hatred and sadism.

Issei quickly organized the thoughts in his mind before adopting a calm expression and storing the book away in the Sky Poison Pearl.

"I suggest hat you don't move so much, or else the wounds will open. For now, you should just lay down," Issei calmly stood up from his spot and walked over to her, quickly reminding her of her injuries. "Or else, all of the hard-work that I went through to heal you would have been useless."

"Ah?" The girl quickly exclaimed in surprise, looking down at her body once more, only to see that some bloodied spots were appearing over the bandages. She then stopped all movement as she stared at Issei. "Who are you?"

Walking over to her and sitting right beside her, Issei smiled lightly. "I'm called Issei. You?"

The girl thought over for a bit before answering. "You may call me as Milady Queen."

At that moment, Issei's smiled faltered, as he felt as if the world had suddenly stopped. After a while, he opened his mouth again. "Milady Queen?"

"Yes?" The girl asked cutely as she tilted her head to the side in a coquettish manner. Seeing that, Issei's expression of despair deepened even further.

"Don't tell me that she is just like Jasmine," Issei's eyes widened, as in that moment, he was wondering whether or not he had made the right decision on choosing her. If she was just as stuck-up as Jasmine, then he would have no idea of what he should do. One girl with a superiority complex was already far more than enough for Issei.

"Anyways, your name is Issei, right?" The girl beautifully smiled. "Then… why did you save me? I know that I passed out after that battle."

"Why did I save you?" Issei's eyes widened, as he realized that he didn't have a good reason for that. In reality, he wanted to curry favor with her and establish a contract, but he knew all to well that he just couldn't say his reasons like that.

Suddenly, an idea passed through his head as he smiled softly. "Are you sure that you're asking the right question? I don't need a reason to save someone," his smile grew softer as he added. "As a medic, I just can't stand seeing someone in pain."

Needless to say, this was just some smooth lie that he had thought on the spot. In reality, he was no saint, and he wouldn't really go out of his way to help someone for no reason. Not only that, he wasn't technically a medic. In reality, this was the first time that he had ever treated someone!

However, the reaction on the girl's part wasn't as expected, as she giggled lightly before smiling. "You don't really expect me to fall for that, do you?"

"Ah..." Issei couldn't help but to shake his head, being caught red-handed. "Not really, but still, my reasons don't matter… If I ever feel like it, I'll tell them to you. For now, I would like to ask you some things."

"Oh?" The girl slightly adjusted her body before smiling kindly. "Please, proceed."

Obviously, this girl didn't really feel suspicious around this mysterious boy. Firstly, just from looking at him, it wasn't hard to see that he wasn't thirteen yet. Not only that, when she saw that her body was bandaged, she noticed that no rather indecent changes had happened to her body, which meant that even though he clearly had the chance to take her while she slept, he had not done so. Furthermore, most important of all, was the look in his eyes.

Because of certain circumstances in her home, just from looking at one's eyes, she was able to determine their real intentions and whether or not they carried any ill-intent towards her. From what she could see, while he didn't really help her on whim or out of sympathy, it didn't really seem to be for an evil or bad reason. Adding all of those factors together, she didn't really feel wary around him, and instead, acted naturally.

Even now, she patiently waited for Issei to ask his questions. He had saved her - this was a fact - so she needed to show him some respect. After all, she knew that if it wasn't for him, then her wounds would be much worse.

Right after she finished adjusting her body in a better position, Issei begun asking his questions.

"Alright," Issei nodded as he also straightened his body. "Before, I had seen you battling some other person.. who was he?"

"That guy? His name is Li Xiaodie, and is the leader of the notorious bandits group, Dark Moonlight. You should know about it, right? They have been acting a lot around this area."

 _I should know about it?_ Issei's eyes widened. This probably meant that the girl wasn't able to determine that he wasn't a World Spirit… _Might as well play along and see where it leads me._

"He's the leader of Dark Moonlight?" Issei's eyes widened, as he faked a surprise expression. Seeing his reaction, the girl, who called herself as Milady Queen, nodded with a smile.

"That's right, he's the leader! Lately, he has been causing a lot of trouble for the empire, so as a test for me, I was sent to deal with him. At the end, however, it didn't go as planned," as she reached that part, she displayed an expression of sadness. Just from looking at, Issei felt heart-broken, and suddenly had the urge to go over and console her. In the end, however, he managed to overcome it.

"I see," Issei nodded, maintaining a cam expression. "So the empire sent you?"

The World Spirit girl nodded her head in confirmation, "Yes."

Issei then continued. "Alright, I can understand the situation. Still, you seemed to have the upper hand at the start, but at the end, you lost. Mid-way through the fight, I went away for a while, and when I came back, it was already over, with him nowhere to be seen. Could you tell me what happened?"

"Alright," She nodded slightly before continuing. "After I dealt with all of his attacks, Li Xiaodie decided to sacrifice his life in order to take mine. He then used a forbidden necromantic ability, that allowed him to combine his powers with other creatures and create an existence akin to a War God. In the end, the War God used its best attack against me, which left me in this state. Following that, he should have probably faded away."

"Forbidden necromantic ability?" Issei's eyes widened as he waved his hands, causing a small cosmos sack to appear on top of it. From within, he took out a small, old scroll and handed it to the girl. "You mean this?"

On the top of the scroll, there words 'Necromantic Arts – Rebirth Of The War God' were written, and within it, was the description of the technique and how to use it. Seeing that, the girl's eyes widened. "How did you get this?"

"It was in his cosmos sack," Issei shrugged his shoulder offhandedly. "While I was hurrying over to you, I found it on the way, so I grabbed it." Issei then raised the small cosmos sack on his hands up in the air. "It's this one."

Before, just as he said, he did indeed find it, but since he didn't have the time, he didn't really spend a lot of time investigating it. From the quick look he had inside, all he found were a couple scrolls with different martial skills, some jade-slip and hundreds upon hundreds of flying swords.

"I see.." The girl nodded slowly, before seeming to have realized something, as she immediately cast her gaze at her waist. Much to her surprise, her cosmos sack was still there. Seeing her actions, Issei smiled.

"Don't worry, I didn't steal anything," he then stored Li Xiaodie's cosmos sack back in the Sky Poison Pearl, along with the forbidden arts scroll. "I'm not a thief, you know?"

"I-I..." The girl immediately blushed, trying to explain herself, but Issei simply shook his head slightly, telling her to forget it.

"Anyways, you must be hungry, right? I'll go out for some food. Wait here," even while he said those words, he was already walking towards the cave's entrance. With a slight wave of his hands, the concealment spirit formation opened slightly, allowing him to pass through, before closing again. Now outside, he looked around.

"Alright.. She is injured, so I should probably find some..." Issei then cast his attention to the knowledge that he had gotten from his late master. After a while, he nodded. "It says that the eggs from Dragon-related World Spirits are really nutritious.. Now, where can I find some dragon nests?"

Issei cast his gaze all over the area, before catching sight of a dragon hovering in the air, not too far away from his current position. Smiling lightly, Issei activated the Lightning Incarnation mode and followed after it.

Some hours later, Issei once more appeared at the entrance of the cave, his clothes slightly burned and his face as black as charcoal. On his Sky Poison Pearl's inner world, there were around ten dragon eggs, along with a variety of herbs and plants that he brought back in order to see if they could be eaten.

The nest wasn't very far away, and the dragon was indeed flying back towards it. The problem, however, was that even after the dragon had gone away, some baby dragons were still in the nest, watching over their future brothers and sisters. When Issei went over to steal them, they tried to burn him with their hot flames. Although it didn't really stop him from getting his hands on a handful of eggs, it still brought him quite some pain.

Sighing slightly, Issei dusted off his clothes and sent a wave of spiritual power all over his face, cleaning it and revealing his skin, that had been hidden by the charcoal. Afterward, he walked back into the cave, already thinking of which recipe he should choose.

Surprisingly enough, not only did Liang Ye have heaven-defying medical knowledge, he also knew how to cook! Not only that, his cooking recipes and techniques also got transferred over to Issei, something that he was certainly grateful for at the moment.

 **Read & Review~!**


	82. Eggy

**Info:**

 **Cultivation Realms – Elementary Profound Realm, Nascent Profound Realm, True Profound Realm, Spirit Profound Realm, Earth Profound Realm, Sky Profound Realm, Emperor Profound Realm, Tyrant Profound Realm, Sovereign Profound Realm, Saint Profound Realm and Divine Profound Realm.**

 **World Spiritist Levels – White-Cloak, Gray-Cloak, Blue-Cloak, Purple-Cloak, Gold-Cloak.**

 **Profound System Ranks - Low Ranked Profound System, Medium Ranked Profound System, High Ranked Profound System, Special Ranked Profound System, Legendary Ranked Profound System, Ultimate Ranked Profound System and Heavenly Ranked Profound System.**

* * *

 **Chapter 82 - Eggy**

* * *

Upon entering the room, the first thing that Issei saw was the World Spirit girl, who was resting against the wall. Immediately after, she looked up to him, and was about to greet him, but when she took notice of the state of his clothes, she suddenly stopped.

"What happened?" Her eyes widened and she tried to get up, but as soon as she did so, the wounds opened, and she fell back to the ground.

Rushing over to her, Issei helped her down into the ground, and while applying pressure to the wounds, explained the situation with a bitter smile. "I tried to take some eggs from a dragon-type World Spirit… it didn't go so well."

"You… tried to steal some eggs from a dragon?!" The World Spirit girl revealed an incredulous look. "Why would you do that? Weren't you looking for food?"

"I got them so we could eat them..." Issei looked at her strangely, not understanding the reason for her outburst. After closing her wounds again, he turned around and started to prepare a bonfire with some straws and brushwood that he picked up on the way.

"But dragon's eggs are inedible," the World Spirit girl tried to argue with him again, but Issei didn't take her words to heart. Between trusting the knowledge of this sixteen-seventeen years old girl or an elder who had lived for millions of years, Issei would obviously choose the latter.

Afterward, he pulled out Gan Jiang, and laid it over the fire. Then, he cracked open two of the ten eggs on top of it, using his spiritual power to make sure that it wouldn't spill. While using the cooking knowledge from the elder's memories, he managed to cook up the eggs nicely while using his poor sword as a make-shift frying pan.

After he was done, he called out Mo Ye, and placed one of the eggs on top of it, keeping the other one on top of Gan Jiang. Then, using it as a plate, he handed it to the World Spirit. Sadly, he didn't have any cooking utensils, nor plates or forks, so he needed to use his two dignified swords… as make-shift plates.

Thankfully, Gan Jiang and Mo Ye, upon being stained by blood, would simply absorb it, and would never get tainted or dirty, so he didn't need to worry too much about that. Not only that, as cultivators, food-poisoning wasn't an issue, since their spiritual power would automatically react to bacteria and the sort.

Looking down at the egg that laid on top of his sword, Issei licked his lips and brought it to his mouth, not wasting a single second. The World Spirit girl, that had been watching him from the very start, wary of eating the egg, was surprised upon seeing him eat with so much gusto.

Before, in the royal palace, she would eat all kinds of delicacies, but she had never been introduced to a dragon-related World Spirit before, so she assumed it to be inedible or poisonous. However, upon seeing the young boy casually eat it, and even reveal an expression of pleasure, she couldn't hold back any longer, and looked down at her sword-plate.

She was normally used to a dignified table, with silverware and plates, hence this was the first time that she had to eat something in this way. Rather unsure of how she should proceed, she shyly ripped off a piece of the egg and slowly brought it to her mouth.

Immediately, a wave of pleasure assaulted her. Even though the taste wasn't too sweet or too sour, it was strong and full, and just from eating it, she could feel her mood brightening. At the same time, she suspected that this also had to do with the boy's cooking skills, and not only the natural flavor of the egg.

While eating, Issei moved over to her and looked at her curiously for a while before expressing his doubts. "Forgive me for asking, but why can't I feel any cultivation coming out from you? Are you hiding it or something?"

Right after hearing his words, a down-cast look appeared on the World Spirit girl's face. She didn't speak for a good while, but in the end, she sighed. "In order to protect myself from the last attack, I sacrificed my cultivation base."

"Wait..." Issei's eyes widened. "So.. you are crippled?"

"No!" The Word Spirit girl quickly cried out. "That's not it! I just sacrificed my previous cultivation base. I can still cultivate from the very start..."

Hearing her answer, Issei let out a sigh of relief. For a moment, he thought that the World Spirit that he was vying for had become a cripple, like the past him, which would mean that forming a contract with her would be for naught. At the very least, she could still cultivate again, and judging from her level of talent, it wouldn't take long for her to surpass him. This meant that Issei hadn't made the wrong choice by saving her.

After that, silence prevailed for a while, before Issei finally broke it. "So, how are the eggs?"

"Good," the World Spirit girl nodded. "By the way… how high is your cultivation base? For you to manage to get these dragon eggs…"

"Peak of the fourth level of the Elementary Profound Realm," Issei replied offhandedly, as if it wasn't anything special. Upon hearing his words, the World Spirit girl suddenly stopped eating and gave him an incredulous look.

"Fourth level of the Elementary Profound Realm?" She revealed an astonished expression. "Isn't that the very start? How did you manage to get your hands on these eggs?"

"I have my ways," Issei shrugged his shoulders, not willing to talk about his painful experiences. In fact, if it wasn't for his Lightning Incarnation mode, then he would never even be able to dream about stealing these eggs.

On the following day, Issei also served her eggs. This went on for five more days, until his stock finished. When that happened, he asked her again what would she like to eat, and she excitedly answered "Eggs!".

For some reason or another, she seemed to have grown addicted to it, and whenever it was possible, she would try to get her hands on some. For one month, Issei would constantly visit the dragon nests in the vicinity, and by the end of the month, most of the dragons had already moved out, afraid of the notorious egg-stealer.

During this month, Issei's relationship with the World Spirit girl grew closer, and at some point, he had begun calling her by the name "Eggy", based on her love for eggs. After all this time, she still claimed that her name was Milady Queen, and since he refused to call her so, he switched it for Eggy.

Initially, Eggy had been enraged at her new nick-name, but after two weeks of being constantly called that, she finally gave in, accepting her new name. From his talks with Eggy, Issei also discovered some other things about her.

Apparently, she was part of the royal family, and although she refused to disclose her actual standing, Issei guessed that it was very high, possibly on the level of a princess or a queen, as her so-called name implied. Not only that, Issei also discovered that she was sixteen that year, which meant that her talent was indeed astonishing.

Aside from talking with Eggy, Issei also focused on his understandings regarding the Dao of Lightning. Now that he actually knew what he should focus on, he devoted himself wholeheartedly to it, and every time that a thunderstorm happened, which was quite often, he would always head out to observe it.

On the book 'Dao, Laws and Nomological Truths', Issei discovered some methods to deepen your understanding regarding a Dao. One of those was to observe the aspect itself, which in Issei's case would be lightning, and try to comprehend the esoteric truths behind it.

Because of his mind-blowing talent when it came to lightning and the frequent thunderstorms, Issei quickly achieved a breakthrough in his Dao of Lightning. As of this point, his Lightning Incarnation was as powerful as his Lightning Overdrive, and the previous Lightning Overdrive was twice as potent.

He had also tried to gain some understandings regarding other Daos, but since he needed some kind of inspiration or enlightenment in order to set foot in the path of a Dao, he didn't make any progress in any other. At the same time, after trial and error, he also came to the conclusion that looking at a bonfire for hours wouldn't give him deep understanding towards the Dao of Fire…

Aside from that, Issei's cultivation also slowly progressed, and in the last week of the month, he broke-through to the fifth level. Because of his mysterious ability that allowed him to cultivate at all times, without needing to meditate, his cultivation would continuously progress, even if he didn't do anything about it.

Just like that, two more months passed. It had already been three months since Issei had entered the Asura Spiritual World, and Eggy's wounds were already half-healed. Even with the Sky Poison Pearl, Issei couldn't really showcase his might if he didn't have the necessary materials, so his medical prowess was greatly diminished. Not only that, the wounds inflicted by Li Xiaodie were deep, and within, there was also traces of his tainted spiritual power, so every day, Issei would spend two hours purifying it.

Issei's cultivation was now on the peak of the fifth level of the Elementary Profound Realm, only slightly away from the sixth. During this period of time, he still pretended to be an inhabitant of the Asura Spiritual World, and had yet to reveal his true status as a human.

More two more months and three weeks passed, and by now, there was only a week remaining until Issei would have to go back. By this point, Eggy's wounds were completely healed, and she could already move freely. Not only that, Issei's cultivation had brokenthrough to the peak of the sixth level.

With Eggy's current condition, if she wanted to, she could already head back to the royal kingdom, and return to a live of luxury. Still, she hadn't done so yet, as she was unwilling to part with the young boy. During this period of time, he cared for her at all times, and no matter which request she made, he would always do his best to accomplish it.

Previously, Eggy never had interactions with people around her age, as she would always be in secluded cultivation, unwilling to waste her time with anything else. Because of that, the impact that the eleven-years old, that was far too wise for his own age, had on her was nothing short of mind-blowing.

Being cared for every day and always having someone to talk to had become her daily life, and she was completely unwilling to part with that reality. Not only that, during this past few months, although she was unwilling to admit, lately, an emotion that she had never felt had surged within her.

Every time that she looked at the young boy, for some reason or another, her heart would start to quicken its pace, and she would get a hazy feeling. He was younger, of a lower status and weaker, but no matter how much she tried to, she couldn't shake it off. The impact that the young boy had on her was far too strong.. stronger than she could have ever imagined.

During this time, she also opened up to him more, and revealed more of her personality, something that she had never shown to anyone else. Although she was still dignified and refined, she also had a naughty and mischievous side to her, and would always playfully tease the young boy, much to his chagrin.

On a faithful day, instead of going out for food, Issei looked at Eggy dead in the eye. His look was one of determination, and he knew that it was now or never. The deadline of six months was approaching, and it had to be done as soon as possible.

Looking at her, he finally said the words he had been meaning to say for a long time. "Eggy…there's something that we need to talk about."

"Oh?" Eggy's head tilted to the side cutely. "What is it?"

Sighing, Issei sat down and started at her deeply, with complex emotions. Initially, he planned on only forming a contract with Eggy, but he never would have thought that he would have grown so close to her. By this point, he already considered her someone close, and even special.

As such, the words that he was about to say pained him, since it would seem like he had been using her from the start. Still, even with his mind-blowing intellect, he was unable to find a better way to say it, so he figured that he would solve things later on.

"The truth is… I'm not a World Spirit…. I'm a human cultivator..." Issei begun. He then looked at her for some reaction, but much to his surprise, she lightly giggled.

"Do you really think that I didn't know?" Her brows then turned into perfect crescent moons as she revealed a happy expression. "I have just been waiting for you to reveal it, silly."

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	83. Last Gift

**Info:**

 **Cultivation Realms – Elementary Profound Realm, Nascent Profound Realm, True Profound Realm, Spirit Profound Realm, Earth Profound Realm, Sky Profound Realm, Emperor Profound Realm, Tyrant Profound Realm, Sovereign Profound Realm, Saint Profound Realm and Divine Profound Realm.**

 **World Spiritist Levels – White-Cloak, Gray-Cloak, Blue-Cloak, Purple-Cloak, Gold-Cloak.**

 **Profound System Ranks - Low Ranked Profound System, Medium Ranked Profound System, High Ranked Profound System, Special Ranked Profound System, Legendary Ranked Profound System, Ultimate Ranked Profound System and Heavenly Ranked Profound System.**

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 **Chapter 83 - Last Gift**

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A/N: I posted two chapters today (82-83). I also suggest that you head back to 81 and check if you also read it, since the system didn't register that it had been uploaded.

"Wait.. you already knew?" Issei's jaw dropped as he revealed an expression complete surprise. He had never let this information slip or anything… what sold him out?!

Giggling, Eggy smiled at him brightly. "When I saw your aura, I already had my suspicions. Although I have lost my cultivation base, I'm still sensible to spiritual power fluctuations, so I could see that there was something interesting about you. But, what made me realize was… the Dark Moonlight!"

"Dark Moonlight?" Issei revealed a puzzled expression, before he remembered what she had told him on the first day, that Li Xiaodie was the leader of the Dark Moonlight. With widened eyes, Issei looked at her incredulously. "Then… you're telling me that it doesn't exist? It was all a test?"

"Exactly," Eggy nodded with a grin. "Obviously, there were some other things that made me realize it… but it doesn't really matter. All this time, I was simply waiting for you to say it~!"

Looking at the mischievous girl in front of him, Issei didn't know whether he should laugh or cry. If you knew from the very start, why keep quiet, goddammit?! Are you trying to fool around here?!'

In the end, Issei could only sigh.

"Then.. I expect that you know what I'm about to say, right?" Issei shook his head and asked her directly.

"You want to form a contract with me, right?" Eggy smiled brightly, her eyes shining. "I suppose that that was the reason why you initially saved me, right?"

Issei was about to nod, but suddenly stopped. "No! I didn't save you just because of that..."

"Don't worry," Eggy shook her head with a grin. "I know your true feelings."

Facing such a strange girl, Issei could only nod. At the same time, however, he was rejoicing that the situation went like this. This was going much better than the simulation that he had on his mind. He didn't even need to recite that speech that he had prepared…

All in all, Eggy already knowing the situation saved him from a lot of trouble and various explanations, something that he was certainly grateful for. Not only that, Eggy's easy-going personality surely helped to make the situation better.

Shaking his head, he looked back at her. "So, about the contract..."

"Sure," Eggy nodded. "Normally, I would be unwilling to, even more given your cultivation base. In fact, before, I have already had many offers of people far stronger than you, on realms that you can't even imagine, but I believe that you're special..."

She then blushed lightly, and murmured. "Furthermore, you have already captured me..."

However, those words were said in a faint whisper, so it passed unnoticed by him. Not noticing what he had just missed, Issei was celebrating in his heart. He had finally done it! Not only had he gotten a wonderful World Spirit, her level of Nobility was astonishing! He believed that with her, he would be able to achieve his dreams.

Looking at her, he smiled lightly. "So, should we carry on with the contract?"

"Yes," Eggy straightened her back and smiled at him. "However, before that… I want to know something. Firstly, how did you enter a spiritual world, as a human? I have never heard of that… also, why only say the truth now?"

"Ah?" Issei looked at her with surprise before nodding. "My master managed to send me here through special means. As for why only wait until now… that's because I will have to go back in a week."

Eggy slowly digested that new piece of information before nodding. "Alright, carry on. I'm interest in how you'll form the contract..."

Issei nodded, and searched in his mind for the ability. He quickly found it, and just as he was about to use it, he suddenly stopped. A troubled expression appeared on his face as he gazed at Eggy. "Eggy, before that… are you truly sure about this? What about the royal family?"

Hearing his question, Eggy's eyes softened as she felt better in her heart, seeing that even faced with such prospects, he still cared for her. In the end, she shook her head. "I'm sure, you don't need to worry. As for the royal family, well.. they'll be able to handle themselves. I'm sure that those old monsters will find someone to take my place, anyways."

Seeing that she was completely sure on her decision, Issei nodded. "Alright, then I'll start."

He then closed his eyes and activate the technique that Liang Ye had left him. Opening his eyes, they were now of a shining golden color as he extended his hands forward, his index finger tapping onto Eggy's forehead.

In that same moment, Eggy felt a wave of power filling her body, and at the same time, she was faced with a choice. The contract was always a two-way agreement, and in order for it to work, she had to give her tacit approval. Smiling, she set down her barriers, allowing the power to fill her.

Golden light started to emit from Eggy's body, filling the entire cave in a shining, golden light. This lasted for a few seconds, before dispersing. When Issei opened his eyes again, Eggy was no longer in front of him.

At the same time, within his Sea Of Consciousness, Eggy's beautiful form appeared. Her figure moved around slowly, before hovering towards his World Spirit Space. The moment she saw the boundless and vast world, along the transcendental palace, ha look of disbelief appeared on her face.

"I have heard of World Spirit Spaces before, but this is simply outrageous..." Eggy's eyes widened, and at the same time, a pleased expression appeared on her face. "It seems like Issei had a good master..."

Entering the World Spirit Space, she went straight to the castle. Within, there was a huge corridor, with walls that extended into infinity. In each side of the corridor were rows upon rows of doors, each of them for a different World Spirit.

"One, ten, a hundred..." Eggy's slowly eyes widened even further. "His master must truly expect great things from him… this place is capable of fitting more than a hundred thousand World Spirits..."

She then looked around for a while, before finally settling on a door. Just as she was about to enter it, however, she caught sight of something else. Not too far away from her, surrounded by smaller doors, was a huge door, with chains covering it. This was something that Issei hadn't seen the last time he had come.

Coming closer to the huge doors, she tapped her hand on it lightly, and in the next moment, an expression of utmost surprise appeared on her face as she recoiled in fear. "This.. this… how is that possible?!"

Behind that door, she felt the existence of another World Spirit… this one, however, was on a completely different level than her. The power that it emanated was simply unprecedented, and she dared to say that even the strongest Asura World Spirit, in front of this one… would be a speck of dust.

Taking a step back, she glanced at that door one last time before sighing. "He sure is full of surprises..." turning around, she went back to the door that she had chosen, and opened it. Within, she saw a huge room. In fact, it would be more appropriate to call it a world.

The ceiling was large, enough to fit an entire mountain, and it was also exceedingly large. Not only that, the room seemed to have a completely different dimension within, with a boundless field of grass, and a river flowing by. The grass was soft, and wind slowly brushed her skin.

Looking at that scene, her expression turned even more flabbergasted. "This is simply unbelievable… to have create a separate dimension..." She then suddenly stopped, and dashed out of that room, going for another one. Within, she saw the exact same scene.

"Just what level was the person who created this in…." By now, she was panting. "Each of the hundred thousand rooms have a separate dimension with them.. this is simply outrageous!"

If someone else had ever told her of this, she would have never believed it, but the facts were laid right in front of her. At that moment, she discovered that whoever Issei's master was, he was definitely someone on a realm that she couldn't even fathom… and for someone like that to have taken Issei in, this only meant that Issei's talent was way above what she assumed that it was.

Sighing, Eggy walked back to her room, deciding that she had already seen enough for the time being. On her way back, she once more passed by the sealed room, and in order to make sure, she slightly tapped it again.

Just like before, it was as if she was hit by a wave of power, and instantly recoiled. At the same time, she discovered that whatever was within that room was in a state of deep slumber. Shaking her head, she entered her room and laid on top of the grass.

Felling the soft grass brushing against her skin, she smiled lightly. "Issei, can you hear me?"

At the same time, within the cave, Issei was sitting there dazed, unsure of what had happened, when Eggy's voice suddenly appeared in his head.

"Eggy?" He asked in surprised as he placed his hand close to his ear.

"I'm within your World Spirit Space," Eggy explained. "As such, I can communicate with you mentally. Try to do it."

Following her orders, Issei closed his eyes and tried to send a mental message. "Like this?" This time, he didn't speak out-loud, and simply sent his thought directly to her.

"Exactly," Eggy nodded as she waved her hands. In front of her, a screen suddenly appeared, which showed everything that Issei saw. In one way or another, this was connected to Issei's eyes, and whatever he saw would be transmitted to this screen, allowing her to see the world. This was an ability that every World Spirit, upon being contracted, had.

"Alright, I have already established a visual connection," Eggy smiled as she strecthed her limbs a bit, getting used to her new room. Issei then nodded, already knowing what she was talking about. He then closed his eyes, and sent his consciousness within his World Spirit Space. When he opened his eyes again, he was standing in the middle of the huge hall.

He then cleared his throat and called out. "Eggy? Which room are you in?"

"Wait for me," Eggy immediately rose up from the ground and walked out of her room and into the corridor, seeing Issei in the far end. Walking over to him, she smiled. "The contract was a success!"

Seeing Eggy, Issei could finally calm down. "Indeed..." He then looked around some more, and nodded. "How is it here?"

"Amazing," Eggy didn't waste any words. "In fact, I'm surprised."

After chatting with her for a bit, Issei called his consciousness back, and looked at the jade-slip that Liang Ye had handed him. Without an ounce of hesitation, he crushed it, and in front of him, a vortex appeared. Immediately, he jumped inside it.

At the same time, what Issei didn't know was that his World Spirit Space, in fact, hadn't been created by Liang Ye on his last moments. His master had given Issei his own World Spirit Space, since he had no use for it any longer, as he was about to fade away.

This World Spirit Space was created throughout tens of millions of years, and Liang Ye had used the help of experts in realms even higher than his to do it. In reality, in the whole middle realm, only a few could even compare to his own World Spirit Space. Not only that, as a parting gift, he also gave Issei a World Spirit, one that he had gone through many ordeals to obtain. This was his last gift as a master to his disciple.

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	84. Slightly Above Average

**Info:**

 **Cultivation Realms – Elementary Profound Realm, Nascent Profound Realm, True Profound Realm, Spirit Profound Realm, Earth Profound Realm, Sky Profound Realm, Emperor Profound Realm, Tyrant Profound Realm, Sovereign Profound Realm, Saint Profound Realm and Divine Profound Realm.**

 **World Spiritist Levels – White-Cloak, Gray-Cloak, Blue-Cloak, Purple-Cloak, Gold-Cloak.**

 **Profound System Ranks - Low Ranked Profound System, Medium Ranked Profound System, High Ranked Profound System, Special Ranked Profound System, Legendary Ranked Profound System, Ultimate Ranked Profound System and Heavenly Ranked Profound System.**

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 **Chapter 84 - Slightly Above A** **verage**

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Near the terrain of the fallen Heavenly Might School, there was wide and extensive mountain range, known to many as a desolate place, without life. Within one of the mountains, there was a lone cave, unaffected by the winds of time.

Going inside, one would be able to see that not only was the cave large and deep, deep within there was what seemed to be a ritual room. If one were to judge by the accumulation of dust, it probably hadn't been used for five-six months.

 _Screee!_

Suddenly, right in the middle of the room, a high-pitched sound rang out, as space and time were bent, with a spatial fissure appearing. Right at that moment, from within the spatial fissure, a young boy, on his early-teen, jumped out, lightly landing on the ground beneath him with a soft thud.

His body was covered in robes that had seen better days, but at the same time were relatively well kept. His black hair was long, reaching his back, and his eyes shined with an electric sparkle. His face was handsome, with a sharp and calm look to it, the corner of his lips curled upwards in a small smile.

Right upon delivering the youth, the portal disappeared, leaving no traces of its existence behind. As for the youth, he looked around a little before sighing.

"It seems that he has already moved on..." His eyes revealed a sad glint as he looked around some more, but didn't find any more traces of his previous master, Liang Ye. Although they hadn't spent a lot of time together, the bond they had was still deep, and he couldn't help but to feel slightly saddened.

Kneeling down, he kowtowed a few times, while murmuring a prayer. When he got up again, his eyes were once more shining brightly. He then looked around the cave some more, slightly reluctant to part with it, before heading towards the entrance.

Reaching that point, he waved his sleeves, and a spirit formation barrier covered the entrance. Using his fingers, he wrote engraved some words on it – Grave Of Liang Ye. Rest in Peace.

Turning his head to the mountain range, he didn't look back again as he tried to figure out where he was, before looking in the direction of the forest. He then closed his eyes, and when they opened again, they were no longer of a dark brown color, and were now of an electric azure hue.

"Lightning Incarnation!"

The boundless power of lightning erupted from his flesh, and his entire body structure changed. He grew taller, his muscles thicker and stronger, and his face more handsome. His hair, that had been of black color, was now turquoise, and lighting arcs circled around his body.

With determination, he pushed against the ground and dashed towards the forest, using his fastest speed. Not even an hour later, he arrived at the borders of the dense agglomeration of vegetation.

Looking around a little, in order to check for any uninvited guests, he dashed into the forest once more, before finally finding a peaceful place. Once there, he sat down cross-legged. At the same time, a small, pearl-like mark appeared on his left hand as his consciousness was sent to the inner world of the Sky Poison Pearl.

Within, the first thing that he saw was the little sadist red-haired girl, who was peacefully sleeping on top of a mound of robes. Walking over to her, he cast his gaze on her beautiful features for a while before kneeling down.

"Jasmine?"

The girl instantly stirred in her sleep, and her eyes parted open, revealing two, deep onyx-colored pupils. She initially looked at him with confusion, but soon enough, her gaze turned into one of loftiness and haughtiness.

"So you have finally come back?" She got up from the ground and crossed her arms. "Do you know for how long you had this princess sleep?"

"Five months?" Issei tried, only to be hit on the head.

"Five months and one week!" She snarled before hmphing. "Next time, I suggest you hurry up! This princess doesn't want to spend the better half of her life sleeping!"

"Alright, alright," Issei sighed as he raised his hands in self-defense, already used to such treatment. He then stopped, and after a while, couldn't help but to ask. "Aren't you going to ask how it went?"

"This princess can already guess!" She hmphed as she rolled her eyes. "You probably got yourself some low-grade World Spirit from a low-grade Spiritual World! Where is the mystery in that?!"

Hearing her words, a strange light shone in Issei's life. Low grade World Spirit? Low grade Spiritual World?! Low grade your sister, goddammit! Suddenly, an idea popped up on Issei's mind, while the lips of his mouth curled upwards. Looking at Jasmine again, he was already guessing how her reaction would be!

"Oh? Then why don't I show her to you?" Issei smirked slightly. Seeing his appearance, Jasmine felt that something was fishy, but didn't think too much into it.

"Alright, I'll see!" She then hmphed once more as she placed her hands on his shoulders. On the next moment, they appeared within Issei's World Spirit Space. Seeing his new surroundings, an expression of disbelief appeared on the young boy's face.

"You can even come here?! How is this even possible?!"

"Hmph!" Jasmine rolled her eyes as she crossed her arms. "Your life is linked to mine! I have full access to your World Spirit Space and Sea Of Consciousness! Don't tell me that that you can't even figure out that much?!"

"I...I..." At that point, Issei was at loss of words. No matter how much he tried to rebuke him, she would always find a way to curse him back. He couldn't help but to think that maybe, her talent for cursing was even higher than her talent for cultivation…

Sighing, Issei looked around the rooms before calling out. "Eggy!"

"Issei?" Instantly, on the far end of the room, one of the doors opened and a young woman came out. Her face appearance was delicate, with jade-white skin, perfect nose and small lips. She was simply the epitome of perfection.

Upon seeing the young boy, she was about to head over to him, but when she caught sight of the young girl near him, she revealed an expression of surprise. After all, only the owner of the World Spirit Space and World Spirits could enter a World Spirit Space… could it be that Issei had another World Spirit that she didn't know about?

Not only that, from what she could see, the girl's beauty was comparable to ever hers. As a girl, when seeing another one, she couldn't help but to compare, and upon seeing that they were evenly-matched, her expression turned complex.

She then cast a glance at Issei, wanting to see how he carried himself around the girl, but upon seeing that he didn't fawn over her or anything, her gaze softened. She then walked over towards them while smiling brightly, masking the complex feelings in her heart.

"Issei!" She looked at him brightly before turning her gaze towards the red-haired girl, who looked at her with disbelief. "What's your name?"

Jasmine, however, only kept staring at her for a long time before gazing back at Issei. With half-closed eyes, she gave her evaluation. "Slightly above average."

"What?!"

At that moment, Issei felt like coughing up blood. Slightly above average? Slightly above average?! You sister is slightly above average! Your mother is slightly above average! Your entire f**king family is slightly above average!

This girl has the highest grade of nobility, and yet you give her such a lousy assessment?! What the f**k is wrong with you?! How high can your standards f**king be?!

Issei, currently, was enraged. He didn't understand how someone could be so stuck-up! This wasn't arrogance… this was simply giving arrogance a whole new meaning!

He then closed his eyes as he forced himself to calm down while clenching his teeth. He knew better than anyone that getting angry at Jasmine wouldn't result in nothing… In fact, it would only bring further troubles to him. Jasmine was the kind of existence that could offend but under no circumstances could be offended.

By the side, Eggy was watching the scene while blinking her watery eyes, not really understanding the situation. Not only that, she couldn't figure out the reason for Issei's pained expression, which made her even more curious.

"Issei? What's wrong?" She approached him slowly, worrying for the young boy.

"No, nothing," opening his eyes, Issei slowly shook his head, his fury already being repressed. He then gazed at Jasmine for a long time before sighing.

"Eggy, this is Jasmine, my..." Just as he was about to continue, he suddenly stopped, as he realized that he didn't really understand the relationship between them. They were obviously not friends or lovers, and although Jasmine had forced him to call him master one time, he believed that that didn't really establish a master-disciple relationship between them. As such, he didn't really know how he should proceed.

Seeing his pause, Jasmine looked at him scornfully before turning around to look at Eggy, "He is my servant."

Instantly, Issei's eyes widened as he held back the urge to curse. You can curse me when we are alone, but not in front of others, goddammit! Can't you save me some face, here?!

Not knowing whether he should laugh or cry, he looked at Eggy again, who was looking at him with an incredulous look. "Issei, what is she talking about…?"

"Don't mind her," Issei shook his head, knowing that he couldn't even explain the situation. "Let's just say that she is my… tenant."

In one way or another, Jasmine could indeed be considered a guest is his body, as she was living within him. Not only that, she used his own purifying power at will and… well…. Depended on him to live. As such, it wouldn't be so wrong to call her a tenant.

"Anyhow," Issei shook his head. "I just wanted introduce you two," He then looked around some more before saying. "Right now, we must decide on how we should proceed."

"How we should proceed?" Eggy tilted her head cutely to the side, not understanding his words.

"Oh right, you don't know the situation..." Issei then remembered that Eggy was oblivious to all that happened to him, so he hurriedly told her a brief version of the story. At the end, Eggy nodded.

"So you don't have any place to go to?"

"Exactly," Issei nodded. "Now we must decide on whether I should stay in this province or move out..."

"Move out," Jasmine coolly interrupted him.

"Because..." Issei looked over at her, wanting to see what her reasons were.

"Simply because I don't like this place," Jasmine crossed her arms. "I remember liking the Blue Wind Country more when I went there… It's near here, isn't it? Let's go there."

"Just because you feel like so?" Issei looked at her incredulously. Jasmine then turned around to gaze at him coolly as she hmphed.

"Is there a need for a better reason?"

"There is.." Issei nodded, but at the same time, he was already making plans to move there. He knew that Jasmine decision, at the end, was the ultimatum. However, just as he was about to move on to other subjects, Jasmine unexpectedly sighed.

"Alright, there's a reason..." She then rolled her eyes. "I have felt the presence of something in the Blue Wind Country that can aid your cultivation."

"What?" Instantly, Issei's interest was perked up, as he moved closer to her, his eyes shining. Eggy also moved closer, interested.

Seeing his expectant expression, Jasmine crossed her arms. "I forgot to tell you this before… but aside from the Sky Poison Pearl, there is another reason why I ended up in the Profound Sky Continent. I was also here because I was searching…. For the Evil God Seeds!"

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	85. Magic Cube

**Info:**

 **Cultivation Realms – Elementary Profound Realm, Nascent Profound Realm, True Profound Realm, Spirit Profound Realm, Earth Profound Realm, Sky Profound Realm, Emperor Profound Realm, Tyrant Profound Realm, Sovereign Profound Realm, Saint Profound Realm and Divine Profound Realm.**

 **World Spiritist Levels – White-Cloak, Gray-Cloak, Blue-Cloak, Purple-Cloak, Gold-Cloak.**

 **Profound System Ranks - Low Ranked Profound System, Medium Ranked Profound System, High Ranked Profound System, Special Ranked Profound System, Legendary Ranked Profound System, Ultimate Ranked Profound System and Heavenly Ranked Profound System.**

* * *

 **Chapter 85 - Magic Cube**

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"Evil God seeds?" Issei looked at Jasmine with surprise evident in his sharp eyes. Jasmine had never mentioned such a thing as Evil God Seeds before, leaving his quite surprised.

At the same time, Eggy, who was standing by the side, tilted her head to the side cutely as she gazed at them while blinking her clear, watery eyes, "Evil God? What's that?"

Hearing her question, Issei was reminded that she wasn't aware of the situation. Not wanting to bother with explaining it to her right now, he shot her a glance as he nodded slightly. "I'll explain it in while."

He then looked back at Jasmine and urged her to continue. Sighing, Jasmine hovered above the ground and looked at them coolly before she begun. "The Evil God, originally, had ultimate control over all aspects of existence, be it the five elements, nature powers, cause-effect… In fact, he was the sovereign of all the Daos."

She then looked around at Issei's surprised expression and revealed a proud smile before continuing, "Anyways, in order to make sure that his successor would be able to quickly rise in power, he sealed his powers regarding the laws of the universe in what he called seeds. Those are the Evil God Seeds, and they can only be absorbed by someone that possesses the Evil God profound system."

Jasmine then adopted a complex expression as she continued. "Originally, I was planning on getting my hands on all of the seeds, and only then would I use the Evil God's drop of blood. If that was the case, even if my cultivation base was destroyed, I would still be in an advantage."

"That's because each of the seeds of the Evil God give you ultimate power over an element. For example, if you have the Fire Seed of the Evil God… then no flames would ever be able to hurt you, and you'd be completely harmless even if faced with the strongest fire with existence. Not only that, your control over fire would soar to the peak, and you'd be unrivaled when it came to fire-type attacks.

"In other words…. Absorbing the seed would give you complete and ultimate control over a Dao. That's why, if I were to absorb all the seeds, then even if this princess was in the first level of the Elementary Profound Realm, even someone on the Divine Profound Realm would be powerless against me."

As she finished saying that, she shot a glance at Issei, and just as expected, his expression was one of yearning and utmost desire. She then closed her eyes coolly. "Giving all of this explanation… this princess is now tired. I'll be in the Sky Poison Pearl; only call me if necessary."

She then stopped and then turned around to face Issei. "Remember—We must depart to the Blue Wind Nation as fast as possible."

Following that, she flicked her sleeves, and as if space had bent, her body disappeared, leaving behind the expectant Issei and the stupefied Eggy, who still had no idea on what was happening. Right after Jasmine left, Eggy turned around to look at Issei with boundless curiosity within her eyes.

Sighing, Issei looked at her. "Sit down. This is going to take a while…."

Following that, he explained everything from the start, including how he met Jasmine, how she was living in the Sky Poison Pearl, how she gave him the Evil God Profound System and everything else. By the end, Eggy was looking at him with an incredulous look in her eyes.

"Amazing… to think that so many heaven-defying things have happened to you in such a short span of time…."

Shrugging his shoulders, Issei stood up as he dusted himself off. "Well, that's about it… Right now, I have other things I need to focus on."

He then closed his eyes, and when they opened again, he was standing in the middle of the forest, back in the real world. He looked around for a while, in order to confirm that no one was around, before finally waving his hands.

In front of him, out of thin air, two objects appeared. One was the small jade-slip with the Deity Enslavement Technique while the other one was the small cube that Liang Ye had given him. Looking at the two amazing objects in front of him, Issei thought over for a while before grabbing the jade-slip.

He then immersed his consciousness inside it, looking at the information within. Inside, it explained that the Deity Enslavement Technique wasn't a martial skill, nor was it a cultivation skill… in reality, it was a divine skill.

Divine skills didn't exist in the middle realm, and in fact, they were skills that came from the gods. Those kinds of skills, even in the higher realm, were incomparable precious. All of this information was something that Liang Ye had left behind for him.

Moving further on, it started to explain how it worked. In simple terms, it had many requirements that had to be met in order to be successfully used, but none of them had to do with cultivation level. This skill, differently from martial skill, didn't require any spiritual power as fuel; even a mortal, with no cultivation, would be able to use it.

At the same time, however, the other requirements already made it absolutely useless. Firstly, it could only work on Immortal beings, or, in other words, Deities, such as Gods, True Dragons or even a Divine Beast, like a Phoenix. This requirement, alone, already made it useless, since those kind of beings, even in the Higher Realm, don't exist any more, most of them having perished in the fall of the Divine Era. As for those that hadn't, they would always be hiding in their own separate dimensions. Being able to find one in the Middle Realm was as difficult as ascending to the Heavens.

However, that wasn't the hardest requirements. No, the following one was even worse, for the Deity had to be in weakened state. It couldn't be at its peak, and could only have, at most, five percent of its power remaining. For optimal results, it was recommended for the Deity to only have less than half of one percent of its powers.

Not only that, there was also the third, and most absurd requirement. The Deity couldn't resist; it had to be willing to be affected by the technique. Which Deity, who were proud and mighty existences, wouldn't resist enslavement?! This basically made the skill simply useless!

At the same time, it had two effects. The first effect would be that the deity would be regenerated and returned to its primal form. For example, if it was a humanoid god, it would return to a child-like form while if it was a True Dragon or a Phoenix, it would be returned to its egg-like form. The only advantage would be that deity is completely regenerated, and its power levels will return to what they are supposed to be in that form.

As for the second effect, it was that the Deity would forever become the caster's slave. Not matter what the caster ordered, the Deity would have to go along with it, even if it required it to kill itself. Even if the Deity got more powerful than the caster, the technique was still eternal, and no one, not even the caster, can break the master-slave relationship between the two.

This type of ability, although useless, at the same time, without a doubt, could be considered as heaven-defying!

At that moment, Issei, who had just learned the powers of the Deity Enslavement Technique, decided that since he had the time, he might as well learn it. Following the instructions on the jade-slip left behind by Liang Ye, he brought the jade-slip close to his head and smashed it against his forehead. In the next moment, it crumbled, and a light beam pierced through Issei's forehead, embedding itself deep within his mind.

Just like that, Issei learned the divine skill, the Deity Enslavement Technique. After that was done, he shook his head slightly. He then turned his attention towards the cube, before grabbing it. Bringing it close to his eyes, he begun to analyze it.

It wasn't big, about one cubic inch in size, and it was of a deep gray color. It was neatly cut, with precise and sharp edges. Not only that, the six surfaces of the cube were engraved with black inscriptions, giving it an eerie and mysterious aura.

Looking at it closely, it didn't seem to be of metal, nor of stone, but at the same time, it bore some similarities to jade, although Issei was sure that that also wasn't the case. After looking at the cube for quite some time, Issei sighed and placed it on his robes, seeing that he couldn't figure anything out about it.

After meditating for the rest of the day, he decided to sleep a little, since he would be departing the following day. Although sleep was no longer necessary, as cultivation would give him the same effects, he still preferred to do it once in a while.

That night, for the first time in a while, he had a dream, and a rather strange one. In his dreams, there was a resplendent palace, completely carved from jade. It was full of pavilions, each of them made entirely from jade, with a mind-blowing level of artisan-ship.

In one of the pavilions, wearing elegant attires and dresses, a group of gorgeous and delicate-looking beauties walked around the palace. Ancient animals roamed in the heavens, giving someone the feel of a world of Immortals.

This was, by far, the most beautiful palace that Issei had ever had the pleasure of seeing, and everything that he had ever seen paled in comparison. Suddenly, while he was admiring the beauty, the scenery suddenly transformed, and the proud and mighty resplendent palace collapsed.

In the sky, countless figures appeared, all of them with ancient and immortal-like airs to them. From the distance, countless light beams flashed, meaning that more people were heading that way. As for the figures up in the sky, they waved their hands, making streams of blinding light shoot out. Although these attacks were a sight to behold, when they descended upon the lands, terrains would change and mountains would collapse!

Heaven and earth were split apart, and the entire dream was plunged into chaos. Up in the sky, demonic flames danced around, threatening to rain down. Covering the surface of hundreds of kilometers, there was a massive spell array, which appeared out of thin air, and a plethora of mysterious symbols shrouded the sky from sight.

This was a war, but on a scale that Issei hadn't ever heard of. All of the figures, be it in the ruins of the palace or in the skies, were, without a doubt, peerless masters of fathomless realms. This level of strength.. probably even someone in thee Divine Profound Realm wouldn't be able to survive in that battlefield for even a second!

Suddenly, the scenery twisted, and what appeared before him was a world of snow and ice. Gust of winds flew through the air, carrying the chilling air and snow storms with them. Within the endless scenario of white, a frightened looking woman help a one cubic inch cube, facing against ten thousand immortals hovering in the skies.

From the place where the scene was portrayed, it was as if the frightened woman was standing less than two meters away from Issei. Even though Issei was sure that this was a dream, the young boy was still able to feel an extremely powerful, yet gentle and holy aura radiating from the woman.

At that moment, he also noticed that the cube that she held onto was the exact same cube that Liang Ye had given him!

The woman then opened her mouth and spoke some sentences, but for some reason or another, it felt vague in his ears. Out of all the words she said, Issei could only make out two—Magic Cube.

As soon as he heard that, Issei thought back to the cube that was within his robes. The way she held onto the cube and the words she said.. it most likely meant that the cube's name was Magic Cube!

 _Screeee!_

The sound of an explosion rang out as space was rent apart, the skies were twisted into a bottomless and raging whirlpool with infinite power, sweeping up all things underneath Heaven. It didn't matter where it reached, be it mountains or even the skies, everything would collapse! The boundless landscape of snow was, in a second, transformed into nothingness as the more than ten thousand figures hovering in the air crumbled into dust. Their souls were twisted, shredded and fragmented, before being absorbed into the cube, that stood in the center of the infinite whirlpool!

Issei was still standing in the middle of the whirlpool, gazing with his own two eyes the destruction of all living beings, as everything was absorbed into the whirlpool. Everything around him was reduced into ashes and dust, while he, the closest to the source, remained unaffected. This was, without a doubt, the most unforgettable experience in Issei's life so far!

Just as he was starting to get worried, the space around him flashed, and he suddenly arrived at a boundless dark space. There, various specks of light hovered a couple of inches above the ground, akin to pieces of a broken mirror. The lights swirled around slowly, and within their ranks were ones as big as a palm, while some were as small as a grain of rice. It the middle of all of those particles of light, there was a big sphere of light, which emitted a gentle and sacred glow.

Looking at the sphere of light that hovered in the center of it all, Issei, for some reason, had the feeling that the aura around it was similar to that of the woman from earlier… No! It was exactly the same!

Reaching that realization, Issei realized that, most likely, that sphere of light, which was the biggest of them all, was the one left behind by that woman!

At that moment, Issei recalled that the woman, unlike everyone else, who had their souls shattered and absorbed, transformed into a stream of light that was then absorbed by the whirlpool, right after the explosion happened.

That steam of light.. it was, most likely, transformed into that sphere of light. Then.. this would mean that the place he was in was within the Magic Cube. As for the specks of lights, if his theory was correct…

A strange light shone in Issei's light as he gazed at the countless glowing particles. From his guesses, those specks of light were all the fragments of the countless figures that had been absorbed by the magic Cube right after being crushed by that spatial storm!

Reaching that conclusion, surprise flashed in Issei's eyes.

After so many things had happened, he was already sure that that dream he had had was most likely as scene from the past. It was simply impossible that something so realistic was a simple dream! Everything that he had seen was so live-like and amazing…. How could he, someone who had yet to see the world, dream of something of such an astonishing level?! Dreaming about such things was simply above and beyond what Issei was capable of!

With this, then it would mean that everything that he had seen was true. This one, small cube, had actually managed to absorb countless masters whose strength was simply unfathomable to him! He believed that even Jasmine hadn't reached such a level of power!

As he thought that far, a hungry look appeared in his eyes. It wasn't hunger for food, but for power! He focused his vision and looked across the dark space that was illuminated by countless light specks. After looking around for a long time, he walked forward and extended his hand, gently touching a speck of light that was both the smallest and the closest to him.

Immediately upon contact, the speck of light flew into Issei's fingertip, piercing through is skin and soul. Issei didn't even have the time to react as he felt as if a sword had piercing his head, bursting his innards!

If it was anyone else, then they would instantly scream out in pain, as it was simply unbearable, but Issei didn't even wince. He, who had experienced the baptism of the Evil God blood and the Nine-colored lightning had already built an overwhelming resistance to pain… something on this level wasn't even worth mentioning!

He slowly sat down and concentrated on what was happening within him. He could clearly feel as the speck of light penetrated deep within his sea of consciousness, trying to swallow his soul.

Seeing that, Issei's eyes opened as he laughed defiantly.

"What's this?! A mere soul fragment is trying do devour my sea of consciousness?!" He then slapped his chest hard as he clenched his teeth. "You will not devour me… _I will devour you!_ "

Facing such a small fragment of soul, Issei immediately called forth all of his mental attacks and barraged the small fragment! It didn't matter how small it was, Issei would go all out to attack whatever threatened him… even more so if it was trying to devour him!

Issei then grit his teeth, and with a maniacal glint in his eyes, endured the pain as he started to absorb the soul fragment. Within his mind, various disorderly images gushed forth, causing his pain to soar to new heights, threatening to render him unconscious! At the same time, Issei only grit his teeth further as he continued the absorption!

After an endless period of time, the pain slowly faded away, and at the same time, Issei woke up. His eyes opened, and he noticed that it had only been a few minutes since he had closed his eyes to sleep. His entire body was drenched in sweat, but aside from that, there wasn't a lot of difference to him.

Looking around, Issei breathed out a sigh of relief, as he realized that everything was alright. He then calmly thought over the situation that he had gone through. Firstly, a person soul's consisted of two parts—An imprinted soul and the memories. The moment that the imprinted soul is erased, the soul would then become ownerless. Such a soul would only act on instinct, and didn't have a mind of its own. Back then, the soul he had touched was smaller than a grain of rice, and its light was dim. Still, when it reached the apex of the pain, it was already comparable to the pain that the Evil God's blood had caused him! If he had touched an even bigger speck, Issei wouldn't be too confident in enduring it!

However, at the same time, Issei felt that something was amiss. His eyes suddenly widened, as deep within his mind, memories that weren't his appeared.

Arrays, inscriptions, engravings, bizarre symbols, people, weapons… Countless of different types of memories and images appeared on his mind.

"This…." Issei's eyes widened. "So I was correct… If I absorb the soul, then I'll get the memories belonging to those masters!"

Issei wasn't stupid, and to him, it was clear that the new influx of memory didn't belong to him, but instead to that ownerless soul. The first time that he saw it, he thought of the possibility of this happening, but now that it actually happened, he was jubilant!

At the same time, however, those memories were complex. They weren't something that could be recalled at will; they needed to be further consolidated and integrated in order to fully be absorbed.

Closing his eyes, Issei searched through the memories. Within, he saw many arrays and inscriptions, but since they were still fragmented and it would take quite some time to organize them, he ignored them for the time being.

Those kind of inscription techniques were used for engraving symbols into weapons and armors, giving them magical properties, but Issei was looking for something else. There was something that he needed, and even desired for. After searching for quite some time, an expression of utmost happiness appeared on his face as he found it: Chaotic Virtues Combat Meridians!

A cultivation skill!

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	86. Cultivation Skill

**Info:**

 **Cultivation Realms – Elementary Profound Realm, Nascent Profound Realm, True Profound Realm, Spirit Profound Realm, Earth Profound Realm, Sky Profound Realm, Emperor Profound Realm, Tyrant Profound Realm, Sovereign Profound Realm, Saint Profound Realm and Divine Profound Realm.**

 **World Spiritist Levels – White-Cloak, Gray-Cloak, Blue-Cloak, Purple-Cloak, Gold-Cloak.**

 **Profound System Ranks - Low Ranked Profound System, Medium Ranked Profound System, High Ranked Profound System, Special Ranked Profound System, Legendary Ranked Profound System, Ultimate Ranked Profound System and Heavenly Ranked Profound System.**

* * *

 **Chapter 86 - Cultivation Skill**

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Issei was someone who desired many things. He desired for power and strength, but at the moment, most of all, he desired for a cultivation skill. In fact, it wasn't as simple as desiring; he was in dire needs for one.

His own cultivation skill, granted to him by Shinso, was a rather-top notch one, but his bloodline begged to differ. Not only did his bloodline find his cultivation skill utterly _disgusting,_ it also decided that in order to force Issei to change it, it would hinder his cultivation. Because of that, a new and better cultivation skill was in the top of his priority list.

Thankfully, it seemed that someone up there had listened to his prayers, as he quickly got his hands on a brand-new and most likely powerful cultivation skill, the Chaotic Virtues Combat Meridians. Even though it didn't specify its rank in the memories that he had absorbed, Issei was sure that it would, at the very least, be something amazing.

As such, with excitement that was clear on his face, he looked deep within his memories, trying to comprehend everything there was to know about his new cultivation skill. However, not even a couple breaths of time later, his expression was already one of surprise. The first thing he saw, in the memories, was the mention of other cultivation levels, ones that he had never heard of.

According to the memories, the name of the first realm was Strength Training. Following that, there would be Flesh Training, Viscera Training, Altering Muscle, Bone Forging and then, there would be the Pulse Condensation period. From what he could see, in the place where the owner of the memories had come from, before people started to use their profound veins to circulate their spiritual power, they must first cleanse their body.

The first stage, Strength Training, was as the name implies, the simple accumulation of strength. Issei could already consider it done, given the time he spent in the waterfall. As for the following stages, they were even simpler. In the Flesh Training, instead of making the spiritual power flow into your profound veins, they must accumulate in one's flesh. As for the Viscera Training, it was the same thing; the accumulation of spiritual power in the viscera. The rest can be said about Altering Muscle and Bone Forging.

As for the Pulse Condensation period, it was the stage Issei was currently in, which was when spiritual power would start flowing within the profound veins. As for the previous stages, it only had one objective – Cleansing the body of any and all impurities.

From what Issei had read in the memories, the air that cultivators breath is foul, and full of impurities. As such, before they started to use their spiritual power through their profound veins, they must first cleanse the body, and only then would they actually start. This method, although it obviously took a much bigger amount of time, made it so that when cultivators begun using their profound veins, because of the lack of impurities, their speed, purity and strength would overwhelm by far the ones that hadn't.

Immediately after seeing that, and reading about the effects, without a single ounce of doubt, Issei closed his eyes. The next moment, all of the accumulation of spiritual power that he had gathered the past year faded away, his cultivation base now non-existent. This may seem to be a rather rash action, but to Issei, there wasn't any other path.

As someone who thirsted for power, how would he want his foundations to not be the very best?! He wanted to have a solid and stable base, which would benefit him greatly in the future. Not only that, the memories also explained how to train through those stages; to Issei, this was the best path to take.

Immediately after this was done, he once more immersed himself in his memories, eager to see just how powerful his new cultivation skill was. After some searching, he begun to increase his knowledge on his future cultivation technique. And, once more, he was surprised!

The 'Chaotic Virtues Combat Meridians', even in the place where the owner of the memories had come from, was considered as a top cultivation skill, with its main focus being the fleshly body. However, since it was focused only of the fleshly body, and did not really go too deep into spiritual power, it wasn't extremely valuable; still, it was a superb skill in Issei's eyes.

Some time later, he finally entered the theoretical explanation on he new skill. According to it, the path of bodily transformations, to normal cultivators, ended on the Pulse Condensation stage, since from that moment onwards, cultivators would focus on refining their spiritual power. However, if one were to practice using this skill, new paths would open. Above the Pulse Condensation, there was another stage – Tempering Marrow.

Above the Tempering Marrow Stage, there were still many others. Those were the Eight Gates of the Hidden Celestial Stems, and the Nine-variant Dao Palace. The first realm, the Eight Gates of the Hidden Celestial Stems, was divided in eight levels, while the other one was in nine, just as the name implied. According to the information recorded in the memories, upon reaching the peak of the Nine-variant Dao Palace, one would be able to shatter mountains and pierce the Heavens with a single wave of one's hand, with no use of spiritual power.

Although Issei didn't have much hope into reaching those absurd levels, he was still excited, as the cultivation skill, although not really focusing on it, still had a cultivation method to increase one's spiritual power upon reaching the Pulse Condensation period. And, this method was something above his current one, but as for how much better it was, he had no ways of knowing.

Or did her really?

Issei's eyes suddenly widened before he closed his eyes, appearing inside the Sky Poison Pearl in the next second. He then rushed forward, and quickly caught sight of Jasmine, who closing her eyes in cultivation. Immediately, he walked over to her.

"Jasmine," Issei's expression was soft, and even a little wary, since he knew that Jasmine had a fiery temper, and interrupting her cultivation definitely wasn't the way to go. Still, he had no other choice at the moment, so he had to take the risk.

"What?" Jasmine's cold voice, that sent shivers down his spine, rang out in the inner world of the Sky Poison Pearl, as her left eye opened slightly, coolly gazing at him.

Steeling his nerves, Issei walked forward and sat down in front of her. "There's something that I want to show you," as he said such words, he used his hands to search his robes for something, but immediately after, an expression of disbelief appeared on his face. "Where is it?!"

Before, he was sure that he had placed the Magic Cube in his robes, next to his heart, but no matter how much he searched, he couldn't find it! It was as if it had simply disappeared from him!

"What kind of sick play are you doing?" Jasmine asked slowly and coolly, an expression of annoyance on her face as she watched as Issei wriggled around, searching for something in his clothes. Ignoring her, Issei continued to search, but ended up empty-handed.

Sighing, the young boy was about to sit down again, but suddenly stopped, as for the first time, he noticed that, somehow, there was something strange with his body. Closing his eyes, he immersed his consciousness within himself and started to search around. At first, he found nothing, but when he searched around his heart, his eyes widened.

Overlapping with his heart was the small, gray, Magic Cube. It didn't seem to be contained within his heart, nor was it around it… No, it seemed to have fused with it! Issei's eyes widened even further, as he now understood why he had the dream; it seemed like a condition had been met, and the cube activated, fusing with him, much like how the Sky Poison Pearl had done.

Watching from afar, Jasmine noticed his expression, and revealed an expression interest as she sent her own consciousness within his body, finding the same, gray cube. At first, she was surprised, but she quickly retraced her consciousness, along with Issei.

Back in the real world, Issei gazed at Jasmine, already knowing that she had seen it. "Do you know what that is?"

"The cube that the old man gave you," Jasmine nodded as she analyzed his body more closely. "It seems that it activated and ended up fusing with you?"

"Apparently," Issei sighed as he confirmed her guesses. "Still, there was something else I want to talk about."

Jasmine was about to decline, but she soon shook her head, as she seemed to have thought of something. "Oh well, this princess is bored. You might as well entertain me."

Issei nodded, and begun telling the red-haired girl about his dream, the soul and the cultivation skill. By the time he was finished, Jasmine had a thoughtful expression on his face.

"I see..." She slowly said, as if she had thought of something. Shaking her head, she glanced back at Issei. "I suppose you want to know how powerful your cultivation skill is, right? You want me to access it."

"Exactly."

"Very well, then." Jasmine stood up and smiled coldly. "Use it to cultivate a few times, start with the Flesh Training stage. That should be enough for me to gauge its strength."

Issei nodded, and got himself in position, and while following the instructions in his mind, he begun cultivating. His eyes were closed, and his body was standing straight. His breathing slowly fell into a rhythmic trance, and it was obvious that there was some profound meanings behind it.

Around Issei's real body, which was in the forest, the spiritual power churned , before being absorbed by it, flowing into his flesh. Within the Sky Poison Pearl, Jasmine was paying attention to the changes in his real body, and not the illusory one he used within the Sky Poison Pearl.

Around Issei's real body, the grass seemed to form undulating waves which danced about, with his breathing being in accordance with the waves, as if he had become part of the surrounding environment.

Compared to his previous speed, at the moment, by following the 'Chaotic Combat Virtues Meridians', from what Jasmine could see, his current speed was a thousand, or even ten thousand times faster. She revealed an expression of surprise before slowly murmuring. "This cultivation skill is above rank 200, not bad…."

She then walked over to Issei, "Stop for now. I've already seen enough."

"Ah?" Issei's eyes widened as he interrupted his method. Just by looking at his body, even though he had only cultivated for a couple of minutes, his body was tougher and looked more resistant. Within him, Issei also noticed that the effects were even greater, as his fleshly body got even stronger than when it was in the fifth level of the Elementary Profound Realm.

Seeing the results, Issei smiled. From his guesses, by the time he reached the Pulse Condensation period, which would be when he went back to using his profound veins, his fleshly body would have reached astonishing levels, at least far above people of the same level of cultivation.

Jasmine looked at him for quite a while before sighing. "Your bloodline should not find any problems with this one; it barely qualifies. I'll give you ten days to reach the Altering Muscle Stage, the third one. After that, we'll leave for the Blue Wind Nation."

She then turned around and started to retreat to her previous position, sitting down on the ground and crossing her legs. Before she closed her eyes, she spoke up. "Given your skill, and your talent, one year should be enough for you to reach the point where you can use your profound veins again."

With that, she closed her eyes, no longer paying any attention to Issei. Seeing that, Issei also closed his eyes, and when they opened again, he was back in the forest. He looked around for a while before nodding. "Ten days and then I'll depart… plenty of time."

He then closed his eyes, and began to cultivate using the 'Chaotic Virtues Combat Meridians'.

* * *

 **[END OF THE FIRST ARC]**

* * *

 **Alright guys, this is the end of the first arc, as mentioned above, and the second arc is continued in my other story: Defying The Heavens, Book 2 - Rising to Prominence. It's already up.  
**


	87. Announcement

Important Message:

Because of various mistakes and inconsistencies, I have mostly re-written chapters 3 and 4 in order to avoid misunderstandings in the future. Even though it's quite long, I suggest you read it another time. A few of the changes I made: Took out various 'idiotic' parts and added new information to the Profound Systems.

There was also a REALLY crucial paragraph there that I wrote in _italic_ AND  underlined on chapter 3. DON'T forget that one. It's really important to the story. Believe me on this.

I also improved the grammar in chapter 3 and did a _slight_ improvement in chapter 4.

Anyways, that's all. Thank you for your attention.

~Breaker12.


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